How great it is to be known as someone who did what was right in the eyes of God— because of their love and awe for God!  Historically, kings come and go; conquer and command; build up or tear down; but the line that leaps for the page is their description of their character.  The king “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” This is truly one of the greatest one-line summations of a life lived well–trusting and obeying God because they honored God by loving Him back.

Isn’t that the goal of a life lived with, to and for God?  I’ve read, studied, meditated on every phrase in every story of how humanity relates to God and each other from Genesis to Revelation and the bottom line seems to be this: We love God because He first loved us. What God desires most is for us to love Him back.  “For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) King Asa was that guy! God supported him because of his heart for God.

2 Chronicles 14

And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

Asa King of Judah

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. ⁴ He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. ⁵ He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. ⁶ He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.

⁷ “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

⁹ Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹¹ Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”

¹² The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, ¹³ and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. ¹⁵ They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

WHAT DO WE LEARN? —HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The greatest way to respond to our God was explained by Jesus who was asked what God most desires from us:

“Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  Jesus followed up with “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”—Jesus, Matthew 22:38-40

Later Jesus, the night before he went to the cross to complete His mission to save the world of sin by paying the debt we all owed, he said to his disciples and followers: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

God’s Love is perfect, divine, and holy and drives out all fear of everything else trying to distract us from His love.  We are not perfect but we are perfectly forgiven by God who gave His Son, Jesus to redeem us from our sins. When we repent of our sins to Jesus, we say yes to God who pours His Love into our hearts! God also immediately fills our being with His Holy Spirit who guides us to truth with His power to speak Truth with His love abiding in us. God’s Love is amazing.  The beauty of God’s love is that the more we get to know Him the more of His love flows through us!  The song playing in the background of my mind this morning is the beautiful testimony of God’s love sung by Philips, Craig and Dean— “Your Grace Still Amazes Me” https://youtu.be/LNVKv7whIzM?si=eFcod5dj3jtSv3Xr

• Lord,

Thank you for Your Story of Love through King Asa who loved you back. Thank you for your Daily Manna of Love that fills my heart, mind, and soul as I love you back and strive to love others.  Your Love fills all the empty places, sustains me on challenging days, encourages me, reminds me I am loved when I feel unlovable, and your love saved me.  Your amazing love, truly how can it be—until we live it ourselves.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love, mercy, and grace that still amazes me.

In Jesus Name, Amen