Reading only 2 Chronicles 13 would give you the impression that Abijah was one of the good kings. But it doesn't specifically say that here, like it does in Chapter 14 with his son Asa who was definitely a good king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
Chapter 13 tells us about one event, one battle during Abijah's reign where he said the right things, asking God for deliverence, and God answered his prayer.
But if you go back to 1 Kings 15 we see a much different picture.
He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 1 Kings 15:3
But then we see the reason God answered his prayer in 2 Chronicles 13, despite the fact that he did not walk the talk.
Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 1 Kings 15:4
Abijah sounded like a true man of God, but evidently his daily walk did not support those claims. He only called on God when he was in trouble. God did give him the victory, but only to preserve His promise to David.
Moving on to our NT passage, I listened to MacArthur's sermon Clay Pots and the Secret to Serving God on 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Clay pots are basically baked dirt. They're cheap, they're replaceable, they're common - in other words nothing special.
When we preach, when we teach, when we speak, when we live out our faith - we are not preaching ourselves. We are the clay pots. We're not it. We're preaching the gospel. The message of truth is the focus, not us. The gospel is the treasure. We're just the containers.
We need to take ourselves out of the equation. It's not about us.
Now, that doesn't mean we no longer need to read our Bible and study the Word. We have to study it to get it right. But when we speak, it needs to be about the Word, not about us.
That's why His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
It's difficult to use someone who is super smart, super strong, super "whatever". Because often that person has made it all about them. (Ties into the independence thing from a couple days ago). It's all about them and God gets none of the glory.
However, when we admit our weakness, when we admit that we are nothing in our own power/strength - that is when God is glorified. Through common, everyday clay pots.
Tomorrow's passage: 2 Chronicles 15-16, 2 Corinthians 5
2 comments:
We are only vessels... God has been showing me this so super clearly over the last month. Great post - thanks Tam!
So true! It's becoming clearer and clearer to me over the past year or so how generally we put too much emphasis on ourselves and our lives. It's not about us... it's not about us... maybe if I say it often enough I'll remember?
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