There were many kings in Israel, and many of them made very foolish decisions. But one in particular stands out to me more than any other. His name is Amaziah.
The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 25:1, "Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign," and in verse two we find that "he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD." But there was a problem. That same verse goes on to say, "but not with a perfect heart."
As a pastor, I find that it is very easy for people to think that I'm doing the right thing. You can read this blog and decide, "Brother Mike is doing the right thing." But none of you can know my heart. Because of this, we have the most incredible story with the most incredible lesson. To make a long story short, Amaziah defeated the Edomites. Now when you look at verse 14, it says that Amaziah took back the gods from Seir. Before I go on, I want you to know what the place Seir means. It means hairy. The Edomites are the descendants of a man called Esau, do you remember him? He was Jacobs brother, and he was very...yep, you guessed it...hairy. We understand, very plainly, that Esau represented the flesh. The flesh is constantly at war with the spirit. Amalek was a descendent of Esau as we find in Genesis 36:12. God swore in Exodus 17:16 that, "the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Haman was an Agagite, and Agag was the king of the Amalekites. So you can see that there is a constant battle, and the Amalekites always strike when we are the weakest.
So what did Amaziah do with those gods that he took from Seir? He worshipped them! Isn't that insane? He worshipped the gods of the enemy he defeated!
O Christian, can I warn you right now, that we often win many battles against the flesh in church, and when people are looking...and as pastors! Oh, we as leaders, we ought to be so very careful. On the pulpit, we may conquer the Edomites...but do we carry their gods with us to worship behind closed doors? GOD IS WATCHING. Amaziah did what was right, but his heart was not perfect.
The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
One of the ways we do that dear soldier, dear Christian, is we are careful to put on the breastplate of righteousness DAILY.
Do you put on your clothes just one time in your life? Of course not! You put them on daily. And daily must we put on our armor. We must guard our hearts in this wicked world, or the world will tempt us with the very things we oppose as Christians! Fan the flame! GUARD YOUR HEART!
There were many kings in Israel, and many of them made very foolish decisions. But one in particular stands out to me more than any other. His name is Amaziah.
The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 25:1, "Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign," and in verse two we find that "he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD." But there was a problem. That same verse goes on to say, "but not with a perfect heart."
As a pastor, I find that it is very easy for people to think that I'm doing the right thing. You can read this blog and decide, "Brother Mike is doing the right thing." But none of you can know my heart. Because of this, we have the most incredible story with the most incredible lesson. To make a long story short, Amaziah defeated the Edomites. Now when you look at verse 14, it says that Amaziah took back the gods from Seir. Before I go on, I want you to know what the place Seir means. It means hairy. The Edomites are the descendants of a man called Esau, do you remember him? He was Jacobs brother, and he was very...yep, you guessed it...hairy. We understand, very plainly, that Esau represented the flesh. The flesh is constantly at war with the spirit. Amalek was a descendent of Esau as we find in Genesis 36:12. God swore in Exodus 17:16 that, "the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Haman was an Agagite, and Agag was the king of the Amalekites. So you can see that there is a constant battle, and the Amalekites always strike when we are the weakest.
So what did Amaziah do with those gods that he took from Seir? He worshipped them! Isn't that insane? He worshipped the gods of the enemy he defeated!
O Christian, can I warn you right now, that we often win many battles against the flesh in church, and when people are looking...and as pastors! Oh, we as leaders, we ought to be so very careful. On the pulpit, we may conquer the Edomites...but do we carry their gods with us to worship behind closed doors? GOD IS WATCHING. Amaziah did what was right, but his heart was not perfect.
The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
One of the ways we do that dear soldier, dear Christian, is we are careful to put on the breastplate of righteousness DAILY.
Do you put on your clothes just one time in your life? Of course not! You put them on daily. And daily must we put on our armor. We must guard our hearts in this wicked world, or the world will tempt us with the very things we oppose as Christians! Fan the flame! GUARD YOUR HEART!