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Daily Devotion: 2 Chronicles 25:23-24

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2 Chronicles 25:23-24    "And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.  (24)  And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria."

We saw that Amaziah, at the first, did that which was right but not with a perfect heart. He went through motions without the true substance of worship. There is great danger in allowing ourselves to get to that place in life. If you read the 25th chapter of 2 Chronicles, you see the digression that took place in the life of King Amaziah.  I will try to briefly tell how the nation of Judah was weakened through Amaziah's lackluster approach to God.

At one point, Amaziah wanted Israel to combine with Judah in going against an enemy. They were all set to go into battle when the prophet of God came to him and warned him against making an alliance with Israel. At that point, Amaziah agreed with the prophet and sent the army of Israel back home. God gave Judah a great victory, but then Amaziah brought the idols of that nation back into Judah and false worship was set up in the nation. Amaziah was still set to form a league with Israel. When the king of Israel came up to him, they broke down the wall of Jerusalem and pillaged the house of  God. They then returned back to Samaria.

It seems to me the great danger of merely going through the motions of worship takes us into a hole of darkness. There comes a time when we settle for any kind of motion that might resemble worship. Amaziah was warned against taking the idols of Seir. The prophet asked him why he would want to worship an idol that could not deliver the nation of Seir. Still Amaziah was set on being like the other nations. Eventually, Amaziah had to flee the nation of Judah, but the people came after him and killed him.

We are in the world, but not of the world. As children of God, we must be careful that we do not allow ourselves to get to the place of simply going through motions that leads us to a downward spiral into deep darkness. There is only One True and Living God. He alone is worthy of our worship and praise. May we never lose the awe of being in the presence of the Almighty. Let us all join hearts in praying that our worship will always be Christ-centered and Christ-focused. Lord, save us from simply going through motions.

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