A God of Covenant

The Israelites had received from God, a choice, an option, to go one way or another, God's way or their own way. They made their choice, God never forced them to make a choice but, let them see for themselves the consequences of the choice. I'd say God urged them, to choose life, that they might live. For example: When a child is playing with a sharp knife and is stubborn and resistant in turning over the knife to their parents, the parent knows, if it be snatched from them it would hurt them bad, the only way to get it out of their hands is to give them the choice to open their hands and give it back. The consequences of holding onto that knife, would be harming the child anyway, sooner or later. It might look like fun for the kid for the time being but in the long run it would cause hurt.
In the light of what I have presented, you now have a choice to make every day, every moment of your life too.

Background: I read through the next few chapters after Amaziah and his son Uzziah had gone, from 2Kings 15-19 and here's the gist of it all. The Israelites had gone as wayward as they wanted to go. Keep in mind the covenant God made with Abraham and confirmed through His promise to David and join with me in this exploration of truth. Here's how the 2 Kings 17 describes Israel's stand with God: The covenant of Abraham included, God blessings, and Abraham's obedience of faith in God, all that God expected of Abraham was faith in God, love for God because God knew that was the only way mankind would truly reach the spiritual, social, economical, physical potential God had originally created man to be. However, 2 Kings 17 says, the Israelites turned away from that covenant, they did evil, secretly disobeying God..to the point that, they were exiled from the promised land. They were relocated from Samaria to Assyria by the Assyrian king. They were treated badly by the king of Assyria, until Hezekiah came up as king in Judah. This king Hezekiah was a good king, 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done (2 Kings 18:3)

Lessons I learnt

God never forced them(the Israelites) to trust Him or follow Him or love Him. Now you might think, why did God let them be exiled, why did God let them be defeated by a foreign king? I asked this question too. What came to my mind was the covenant and a God who believes in free will.
covenant:means covenant means "a written agreement between two or more parties to perform some action"
Now knowing this, its easier to understand that, the covenant between Abraham and God was based on Abraham's faith and God's promise of a complete or fulfilling life. Covenant was to result in an action, on the basis of the components(faith from Abraham's part and life from God's part) provided by the parties in the covenant.
Since the faith in God part of the covenant wasn't being activated, God's desire to activate the abundant life part wasn't able to take effect.
The Israelites,"v11 They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger." If I were to read this verse without the light of knowing covenant, I would have been disappointed, that God was angry at them, but now I think, God was not angry at them, God was angry at the way they had been decieved in disobedience, thinking that was the best life they were living. Satisfying ONLY their physical and material cravings. I don't think there's anything successful about a life with ONLY those two aspects being met. They might seem successful in the eyes of the world, for now, for the time being. 200yrs from now, will they be remembered????? Will they have done anything that could impact and change lives??? NO I don't think so.
The Israelites weren't ready to let go of the knife they were holding. The knife of disobedience, the knife of worshipping other gods(which weren't even god), the knife of self-destruction which would not only destroy them but also their following generations, because thats what they were teaching their kids, to hold onto that knife. The sad thing was, they weren't looking at their life from God's point of view.

God knows what man is all about, what can make man complete and the choice to find "that success" A life that impacts lives, a life that gives its all into the hands of God, becuase they love God and would want God to bring out the best in them, for they themselves know not whats best about them and for them. They discover the immense power that the covenant holds, to bring about all the blessings, be it spiritual, physical, social, financial or anything else. Look at all the examples of people who kept the covenant of God, their part in the covenant, the part of faith and love for God. Weren't they blessed beyond measure, weren't they successful in ALL areas of their lives, not just the 2 that man has been thinking of all this while.

Conclusion: At the end of my reading from 2 Kings 15-19, I have come to meet a man Hezekiah. "5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook" Oh would I ever so love to be like him. He activated the covenant by his faith, when he invited God back into His life and called out to His covenant partner for the promise that was made so many 100s of years ago. That power worked and brought him out of the generational rut of disobedience everyone was stuck in. He was successful.

Its our choice now, either to continue holding onto that knife ever so dearly( not knowing the dangers of it all) or to hand it over to the LIVING God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and see the covenant in action in our life.

Fallen-Restored-Still Loved

There is no believer who has not sinned either before knowing Christ or after knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Everything in David's life was going pretty smooth, he was obedient to God, God had blessed him all the way in everything he did. He is king and his subjects are happy to be in his kingdom, because he deals in righteousness and does what is good for his people.
In spite of such a good record, David slips, he sins against a good man named Uriah and acquires his wife, after plotting his murder in the battle field. God is disappointed with David's actions, and David loses the son he has through Bathsheba (Uriah's wife). David sinned!!! However, he was quick to ask for forgiveness and get right with the Lord. Later he did have to face the consequences of the sin.
We are so glad to receive all that we want, from God, however there are times, when we compromise our stand in the Lord, for petty pleasures/wants. Yes faith works, but that is not all that God wanted us to learn, He would love to have children who are well built in character,

Lessons I learnt

1. Anything outstandingly good in our behaviour, can come ONLY through a relationship with Jesus-David was a wonderful king, a successful king because God was with him, so also if there be anything good that comes out of our life, its because of our Loving Lord Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.So also, for us who believe in Jesus, we are prompted and encouraged to do good, even to people who hurt you, through our Lord Jesus."22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." So if we thought goodness is inherent of a human being, its not. Yes we can easily do good to people who hurt, to people who are equal in our status, people who are good to us, but can we like David, be good to a person's kid, who continuously tried to kill him? Now these are good deeds, which will be remembered forever.
2. Sin is falling short of God's mark and also not doing what we're supposed to do-"There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". David is a wonderful mentor for someone who wants to be a man after God's own heart, however he too sinned. You know why David sinned, because in this record, David was NOT DOING WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO. "1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men .......But David remained in Jerusalem. "If David would have gone for war, he wouldn't be strolling in his palace aimlessly. God has a plan for us, but if we think of taking a break for a season, we might as well be strolling aimlessly even though we think we got it all figured out.
3. Lets not take advantage of God's goodness-When a child of God sins it brings contempt to his/her Father in heaven-"because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, "( 2 Samuel 12:14) It is a serious thing, to make our enemies show contempt to our Living God. Just because our Lord is Loving and forgiving, doesn't mean we take advantage of His goodness.
4. There is hope for all who repent-The Word of God is frank about David's sin, because there is a lesson for all, it is true David sinned, but it is also true that he repented sincerely. The Bible mentions " 13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. "( 2 Samuel12:13) God forgave David, instantly upon his repentence, so does God for us "1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." not from some sins, but from all.

Conclusion: This episode from David's life is a very serious one, however it brings out the essesnce of human failure and God's love. "22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."( Romans 3:22-24) The Good news is, God does not hold this sin against David forever because David repented, though the consequences remain, the relationship of God and David grow stronger. David now has learnt that though he is a king and a great man as people see, he is a small human being with faults before God. So also, for us if it was ONLY to be good on the outside what would the world have been? Can you imagine? Our God molds us into good people, inside and out. People whose lives are transformed by His divine light and direction. Lives that are so transparent before God, that when God shines on them, His light shines right through them and they become God's reflection, God's light and salt for this world. Lets be one too.