2nd Chronicles chapter 26.
Good morning Everyone!! I hope you have an eventful day with Jesus.
I found it interesting that Zachariah's name was brought up again. I assume it is the same Zechariah whose father was priest, Jehoiada, who had a great influence upon King Joash. Zechariah was like his father who had a heart for the Lord and a heart to mentor others in the Lord. I guess you could say, “Like father, like son.”
Also, King Uzziah was a great king and God blessed him in every aspect of his life until he became powerful. Once he became powerful his pride destroyed him. It's disheartening to see another king turn away from the Lord after having such a great start with the Lord. It shows me how Satan uses every tool possible to destroy our walk with God:
1. He uses power.
2. He uses Fame.
3. He uses money and possessions.
4. He uses any and everything.
It reminds me just how important the body of Christ is and how we need each other and need to stay connected in God's Word. As soon as we set God's Word to the side, the easier it is to get sidetracked and start to focus on the things of the world, the worries of this life, until we lose focus of God.
1. We need good mentors and accountability partners.
2. We need to daily encourage one another.
3. We need to stay in God's Word.
What is so much more important than God's Word that we should put God's word aside? What is able to provide more Truth or more Life than God's word? What can provide more peace, comfort, purpose, value or direction than God's word? Nothing!!! So let's keep focused on God and His Word daily! Let's be an encourager and mentor to our kids, our loved ones or our friends like Zechariah did.
Pride can be very dangerous as we read about it leading to Uzziah’s destruction in verse 16 of this chapter. May we be careful to guard our hearts and our ways from pride and the rest of the enemy’s schemes. I agree that we should keep focused on God and His Word!
Take a look at Proverbs 16:17-20.
The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Whoever gives thought to the Word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
Chronicles was originally written to the Jews returning from 70 years of captivity in Babylon to remind them of God’s promises and intentions and their inheritance and history. But God’s Word is truly living for us today as the days of Uzziah remind us that we can do all things with Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) But we are nothing without him.
A major theme in 2 Chronicles is “when he sought God, he prospered”. Unfortunately, Uzziah’s pride grew with the blessings he received from the Lord – so much so that even the people’s security was in him rather than the Lord. In Isaiah 6:1, we read that when Uzziah died, the prophet saw the Lord high and lifted up … as He should have been all along.
I too praise the Lord for the body of Christ – each of us has a place and a role to play in His kingdom while on earth. We need each other – be kind and love each another.