Today's Verse

Joash did right in front of the LORD as long as Jehoiada the priest was living. — 2 Chronicles 24:2 ERV

Devotion

How sad it would be for me, being a child of God throughout my life, but at the end, to have my soul end up in hell! I often asked audiences how they would feel, when they get to heaven and I am missing among them. One of them said they would cry! This is how the high priest, Jehoiada, must have felt after raising the child King Joash to live in reverence to God. Yet after he passed on, Joash derailed from serving God.

I believe serving God requires individual faithfulness. It has nothing to do with mentorship! Choice is something God embedded upon human beings. We decide to serve Him faithfully whether we have the presence of a mentor or not. God allows a mentor to guide us; however, the choice to follow Christ is ours. Hebrews 13:7 commends us to remember our leaders, how they lived, died and even to copy their faith!

Our verse of the day is truly remarkable, that after a lifetime of forty years, when King Joash's mentor, high priest Jehoiada died, some unfaithful leaders influenced him,"After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah came and bowed to King Joash. The king listened to the leaders" (v. 17).

Mentors are not wrong; we certainly need them. But we must remain grounded in the fact that Jesus Christ is the truth.

Joash sold his truth, wisdom, and understanding and exchanged it for a lie from the leaders of Judah! He "didn't remember Jehoiada's kindness to him" (v.22). Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, was filled with the Spirit of God. He tried to steer Joash back to the right path, but instead of listening, Joash mercilessly ordered his murder and Zechariah was stoned to death (v. 20-21).

May we never put our dependence on humankind, for they will surely pass on like the priest in today's verse. It was clear that the king needed to be grounded upon the One who appointed his kingdom, God Almighty. We need to depend on Christ alone. Jeremiah 17:5 says, "This is what the LORD says: "Bad things will happen to those who put their trust in people. Bad things will happen to those who depend on human strength. That is because they have stopped trusting the LORD."

By Christopher Thetswe, Bible League International staff, South Africa