Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Up
- Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship. If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position. Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up. This is why God needs to be in our Up position.
Amaziah is
remembered as being a decent king, but he certainly had his flaws. I think Amaziah’s main problem was that he
was confused as to who or what was truly the focus of his worship. Amaziah does acknowledge God’s sovereignty,
but it isn’t a consistent pattern in his life.
First, let’s
look at a place where Amaziah gets it right.
Amaziah buys some mercenaries to go out into battle. He receives word via one of God’s messengers
that God is not with these mercenaries and if Amaziah goes forth into battle
with them that he will surely lose and not have God’s benefit. Amaziah finds out that God promises more in
spoils of war that Amaziah paid for the mercenaries, so Amaziah sends the
mercenaries away. He goes forth,
trusting God, and wins the battle. He is
victories because he is willing to listen to God.
However,
after Amaziah returns home he sets up the foreign gods and begins to worship
them. I’ve always wondered about
this. What would you worship the gods of
a nation you conquered, especially if you went to war with the support of your
own God? Isn’t being victorious proof of
God’s power? Amaziah begins to worship
those other gods and he loses God’s favor in doing so. His Up is often in flux.
Amaziah gets
some things right. He does listen, at
least when it is to his advantage. But
he doesn’t always listen. Amaziah has a
fair-weather faith. When it benefits
him, Amaziah is faithful and obedient.
But when it doesn’t suit him, Amaziah will chase what he thinks is the
best for him.
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