This chapter tells of a spiritual reformation or revival led by Asa in Judah.
“As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin… and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord. … They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought… And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul… And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.” (v8,11-12,15 abr)
It would seem that at some point during Asa’s reign he and the people lost sight of God, so He sent a prophet. The good news is when Asa heard the challenge, he shaped up and destroyed all of the false gods – even his mother’s: “Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron.”
Have you ever gone through your home and performed a purge? I’m not talking about getting rid of one knick-knack here, and one piece of clothing there. Have you ever gotten rid of a large amount of stuff in a short period of time? For example, cleaning out your entire wardrobe, fridge/pantry, basement, attic, storage room, or other sizable space, in few hours or days. We recently purged an area of our basement to make room for a home gym – we got rid of unused furniture, and other junk. Asa basically did that in Judah, purging everything detestable and unnecessary.
God wants to help us do this in our lives too: purge anything that is detestable, that draws our attention away from Him and the people to whom we are called to minister. If we are attentive to God’s leading in our lives, and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, I’m sure there’s at least one area He’d like to help us tidy up. Perhaps there is a physical place, and if so that physical place will be symptomatic of a spiritual place in our hearts that He longs to help heal and reclaim for Himself.
Father God, thank you for Your constant lovingkindness and sovereignty in our lives. You are our Almighty Lord, the God of our forefathers, who longs to have a deep and full relationship with us. Please gently encourage and lead us to remove any detestable things from our lives, and seek You with our whole desire, so You would be found by us. In the name of Jesus whose sacrifice made all of this possible, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training