Backslidden

Day 127

Reading: 2 Chronicles 22:1 - 2 Chronicles 24:28

Warning this will not be an easy read. Too many times we don't realise that we need to address some tough topics. Many times we only want to hear what makes us smile. However, I pray that this will make you reflect on your walk with God and see where you are with Him. Today I want to only rededicate myself to God alone because I know I am wanting in some places which were what provoked my blog after reading the above passages of scripture. 

King Joash became King through unusual circumstances. His mother on hearing that his father had died staged a coup and killed all his brothers. His sister took and hid him from the mother and gave him to the high priest to rear him. He was brought up in the temple of God. Jehoiada the priest became like a father to him. At an early age, Jehoiada restored the kingdom back to the lineage of David and placed Joash as King.

Joash listened to Jehoiada and loved God as long as he listened to him. He even repaired the temple reinforcing the beauty and splendour of the temple. He heeded the ways of God as long as the priest was alive. Once Jehoiada was gone, Joash lost his zeal for God. This led to asking myself what made him backslide from serving God.

Firstly, the first sign of backsliding is that one stops listening to the teaching of God. When your zeal and love for God's Word is withdrawn know that you are backsliding. Check your heart and ask yourself what is filling your heart other than the Word of God. Today we find believers will fill themselves with every excuse to believe what they want to believe in God. We have adulterated our faith by mixing it with wrong thinking and have consoled ourselves that it's okay God will understand. My friend, I have come to realise that if I am not listening to the Word of God and heeding it then sin is nearby.

Secondly, Joash not only lost his zeal for the House of God but he lost his love for the brethren. A backslider doesn't want to hang around the fellowship. They want to stay far. The enemy's strategy is always to separate. If you take an ember of coal away from the others it soon loses its fire. Many believers don't understand that skipping church or fellowship is the route of death. When the House of God is not a priority then please note you are on the road to destruction. Joash forgot what Jehoiada did to him that he killed his son, Zechariah. How many times do we believers forget what God has done for us and yet we are busy killing our brethren? 

Joash listened to the wrong voices in the name of the elders of the people. These elders convinced him that idolatry was good. Many times people backslide because they have some people around them whom they revere and listen to and they are not leading them in the way of the Lord. Joash grew up in the House of God and the elders convinced him to depart from where he was brought up. Let me ask you a question who is speaking against the Word of God in your life and offering wisdom that seems palatable but is for your death? Anyone who speaks to me and the Word of God is not in their wisdom I am learning to categorise and separate. If the Word of God is not in your words then death is what you offer. Learn to weigh information through the scale of the Word of God.

My friend when you stone those who are trying to speak the Word of God then get ready for your own funeral. That was the case for Joash. Joash died a miserable death. We need to learn to walk in the fear of God. When a person despises the Word of God then they are candidates for destruction and only the mercy of God can bring them back to the place of loving God. We sometimes treat God as though He was just another part of life and not Lord of Life. Listen, if truly God owns you then serve Him wholeheartedly and seek His counsel in all things. Common sense will take you only so far, however, abiding by the Word is the requirement of God. 

Believers let's not be like Joash who started well but ended badly because he forgot God. Check your heart and life asking where you have left God out. If there is a place you have done that repent and get back to God. God is seeking us to return to Him fully. Don't allow the things of this world to cause you to fail in your walk with God. I reread the story of Joash many times because my heart was convicted of the need to check my heart and weigh whether I am walking with God. Trust me I found God speaking things to me that needed correction.

Memory Verse: 2 Chronicles 24:2

Decree

Lord, I surrender my all to you. Forgive my backslidings. May I walk in purity of faith with you. Lord fill me with a love for people as you love all. May I never forget the House of God. May I walk in obedience to the Word of God.