Abusing Gods Benevolence Text: 2 Chronicles 20:31-37 Key verse: “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish” (2 Chronicles 20:37). There was this story about a selfish person who inherited a rice field in India. In the first season, the irrigation water in his field covered his property and overflowed on to his neighbours’ fields, which made all of them to have a great harvest. But in the next season, he felt he was too generous to his neighbour by letting the water escape to their fields. So, he stopped the water with a specially made dam, which made the water not to flow out and became stagnant. It turned the field into an unfruitful marsh and spoiled the crops. The man did not know that all he had was by God’s mercy. His acts of ignorance and mission led to His ruin. Jehoshaphat had a similar experience. Though he was a good king of Judah, he hobnobbed with Ahab, an enemy of God, which would have cost him his life, were it not for God’s mercy. One would have thought that Jehoshaphat would have learnt his lesson and henceforth avoided an unholy union with the enemies of God. Unfortunately, he never learned the lesson from his agreement with Ahab. Thus, he went into a damning affinity with Ahaziah. The Lord therefore sent Eliezer to prophesy against him. The Lord destroyed the ships which Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah built. Although we’re not told about the number of people who lost their lives, Jehoshaphat’s error of judgement were at great material costs. His labour and investments ended in great ruin. What a waste of effort and resources and a great lesson for all in position of leadership today! We, therefore, need discretion and godly wisdom to govern. We need to know where to firmly draw the line and avoid a binding relationship with unbelievers in marriage, business and other areas. If in any way we have erred in the past, God can still forgive if we repent, confess and make our ways right with Him. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: It is godly wisdom to discern between God’s mercy and severity.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 05:33:41 +0000
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