Thurs.’s Devo - Chosen

Read: 2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14; Romans 9:1-21; Psalm 19:1-14: Proverbs 20:1
Judah’s king, Abijah died and his son Asa was made king. Asa was a good king most of his life. He got rid of the idolatry in Judah which caused Judah to prosper and be at peace.
When after 10 years of peace, the Cushites came against Judah. Asa called out to God for help and the Lord struck down the Cushites so that they ran in terror of God. How ironic since “terror” is the meaning of Cushite. Judah got much plunder from the Cushites and God sent Azariah, the prophet to explain to king Asa just what he had done for him. God had given them the victory and would always fight for them if they stayed close to him. This empowered king Asa to cleanse the land further of idolatry and prepare the altar of the Lord for sacrifices.
Many of the Israelites had started following Asa instead of the kings of Israel because they saw how God was fighting for Judah. Asa called all Judah to assemble and sacrificed 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep from the plunder they had gotten from the Cushites. They renewed their covenant to follow the Lord with all their hearts.
For 25 years, there was peace and prosperity in Judah. Then Israel tried to fortify Ramah which was a city that was the gateway from Judah to Israel. Israel wanted to keep their people from going over to Judah to worship the Lord. Instead of asking the Lord for help, Asa foolishly took gold and silver from the temple and used it to hire Ben Hadad’s army in Aram. Aram did help them stop the work at Ramah but God was not happy. God sent his prophet, Hanani to rebuke Asa for not asking God for help instead of hiring the Armenians. Asa got so mad at the prophet that he threw him in jail and lashed out at his own people. Asa ended up getting a terrible foot disease and dying refusing to ask God to heal him. Such a sad ending to such a good start.
It is so easy to look at the lives of the kings in retrospect and see how quickly they forgot what God had done for them. But how like us they are. This is a great reminder to remember the things that God has done in the past and believe that same God can and will do greater things in the future.
Today, Roman’s reading is beyond our comprehension of God. That God could create a person for destruction and another for grace is beyond what we want to believe about God. The truth is that the godly and the ungodly are his and he does with them according to what his purpose is. It should make us that much more grateful to be chosen. God has a people that he has chosen as his own and everyone else is here to help us get where we are suppose to get and do what we are suppose to do. It is not our job to figure out who is chosen or not, but to walk in the spirit and do what is before us to do. God’s law for us is to love others as Christ loved us.
Lord, help us to walk out our salvation in the power of the Holy Spirit. Today, may we hear your voice and obey. Thank you for choosing us.