July 30
2 Chron 26:1-28:27 | PS 23:1-6 | Prov 20:11 | Rom 13:1-14
Ask anyone about their going to heaven and hell, and more than likely they will state they are heaven bound since they are basically a pretty good person. What they have done is they have evaluated their lives and weighed their good actions and their bad actions and in their own estimate they feel that their good outweighs their bad. Their criteria, of course, is based on their own criteria. Interestingly, when it comes to others we often judge them by their most recent acts, sort of "what have you done lately". People could have led fairly moral lives, been good family people, but then something happens, something gets uncovered and all of those good things get wiped away and the person is dragged through the mud with everything prior being questioned. It is a good thing that God does not use either of these criteria. For God it is a matter of relationship. Have we humbled ourselves before Almighty God and given our heart to Him? Have we truly entered into a relationship with Him? Once we have, nothing severs that relationship. He knows how frail we are and how damaging acting in our flesh can be. Of course there will be earthly consequences for these bad actions on our part, but like parents are with their children, these relationships are not severed simply because our own children tend to act in poor ways.
As we go through the various kings of Judah, each records some good and bad things. There were eight good kings of the nation of Judah (this is after the split in the unified kingdom after King Rehoboam). We read of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:4-5, "He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success." The discussion about him goes on to detail many of his good actions. But his life did not end well, as we see him lift himself up in an act of defiance in 26:16, "But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar." His action caused God to strike him with leprosy and he lived the remainder of his days in seclusion, while his son, Jotham, assumed the throne. Does this act of defiance erase all of his prior godly actions? No! Did God sever His relationship as a result of this action? No! Were there earthly consequences? Yes!
We should desire to leave a good legacy, not because we fear that God will disown us, because He will not. We should all desire to be good and faithful stewards of all that God has bestowed upon us, for we want to be His ambassadors and through our lives have others desire to enter into that all important relationship with the living God. Our good actions do not outweigh our bad actions, for we weigh all our actions by God's standards, not human standards, and may we never forget that God knows our thoughts, motives, hidden actions, etc. May we be non-judgmental when others fall, knowing the frailty of our own flesh. May we be ever thankful that our God truly knows us, and despite our many imperfections, He chooses to love us anyway. This is what we need to stand on day-in, and day-out. Thank you, God!
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: