Welcome to another edition of the Weekend Sermon. Thank you to all of you who read this blog. It means a lot to me.
This has been quite a week. Many of you have been praying about my employment situation. This Thursday, I lost my job. There was a union dispute, and my position was scheduled for elimination. There were other reasons why I left the job, but that was the primary reason. Thankfully, I found another job, and I am able to work as many hours as I was before. Also, I've been getting some writing jobs lately. Hopefully, that will pick up. I still want to get another job, so please keep praying that the Lord will provide in this area.
This week, let us all continue to pray about the Ebola situation in Africa. Pray that all will be well in this ongoing problem. Continue to pray for peace in Syria and Iraq.
We haven't done a series of messages for the Weekend Sermon in while, and I am going to remedy that situation this week. Starting this week, and continuing to the weekend before Christmas, I will be posting a series of messages focusing on some of the kings who ruled Israel and Judah. I will focus on what the Bible says about these interesting individuals, and we will examine what we can learn from their lives that will help up live lives that are pleasing to the Lord Jesus.
Today, I want to focus on what we can learn from the life of Asa. Asa was king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. If you recall, after the death of Solomon, Israel divided into two separate kingdoms. The northern ten tribes followed Jeroboam, and they were know as the Kingdom of Israel. The two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin followed Solomon's son Rehoboam. They were know as the Kingdom of Judah.
Solomon's son Rehoboam was a terrible ruler as was Solomon's grandson Abijah. They followed after idols, and they did not worship the true and living God. It took Solomon's great grandson Asa to get things back on track.
When Asa came to power, he removed all of the idols from Judah. He ordered the people to stop following false gods and to follow the law given by God in the Torah. Asa was so zealous to follow the Lord that he even removed his mother from being queen because she set up an idol in a grove.
Asa also sought the Lord when he was faced with invasion. Asa prayed and sought the Lord's help, and the Lord delivered Asa and his people from the hands of the Ethiopians.
From the way Asa's rule began, things looked promising. However, Asa didn't stay on the right course. In the latter part of his reign, Asa was facing war with Israel. Instead of seeking the Lord, Asa made an alliance with the Syrians. Asa was confronted about this by the prophet Hanani, and Asa threw him into prison. At this time, the Bible says that Asa began to oppress his people.
In the last year's of Asa's life, he had a disease of the feet. Instead of asking the Lord to help him, Asa only consulted with his physicians.
So, what can we learn from the life of Asa. First of all, we can learn from Asa's example of following the Lord. In spite of his family, Asa didn't worship idols, he turned to the Lord and had the people do the same. No matter what your spiritual background might be, you can change and turn your life over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
My Dad was not raised in a Christian home. He had no spiritual upbringing whatsoever. However, at the age of 40 my Dad gave his life to Jesus, and Jesus totally transformed my Dad's life. Asa early in his life also favored serving the Lord above all else. We see this in the action that Asa took in removing his mother from being queen. Doing right came above family connections. This is similar to what Jesus was talking about when He said that if someone wasn't willing to hate father, mother, and even their own life they were not worthy of Him. Following Jesus should be our top priority. Jesus must be our Lord, and our allegiance should belong to Him. Jesus is Lord. Our nation, family, friends nor our own desires are Lord. Following Jesus as Lord means following Him above all else. Our first loyalty belongs to Him.
Asa is also a good example of drifting away from serving the Lord. Later in his life, Asa went his own way. He stopped asking the Lord for help. We must not fall into this pattern of behavior. No matter what problem we might be facing, the best option is to take it to the Lord in prayer before doing anything else. Prayer should not be a last resort. It should be our first action.
When Asa was sick, he sought the physicians and not God. There is nothing wrong with going to the doctor. However, we should seek the Lord. Ultimately, Jesus is the only one with the power to work on our behalf.
We must be diligent in our walk with Jesus lest we follow Asa's course. We need to stay in prayer. We must not neglect our study of the Word, And, we must faithfully obey the commandments and teachings of the Lord Jesus. If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will not stray from the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life.
Next week, I will post the verse on Monday. I will try to post a review. The sermon will appear next weekend. May God bless you all. Amen.
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