Jump Start # 1308

2 Chronicles 22:4 “He did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.”

  Our look at the kings of Judah continues. We started with Asa, the first good king of Judah. We now look at Ahaziah, the fourth generation. His father, Jehoram was wicked and died with no one regretting that. Ahaziah, his surviving son, takes the throne at the age of 22. He reigns only one year. He is assassinated by a messenger sent from God who is on a mission to wipe out the bloodline of Ahab.

Although there isn’t much said about this king, we find a disturbing truth and trend that even continues today. Ahaziah was influenced to do evil. The previous verse tells us that even his mother, Athaliah, counselled him to do evil. Our verse today shows that his counselors were to his destruction.

Influences. They are all around us. Folks telling us what we need to do. From facebook, to friends, to the television, to blogs, we are bombarded every day with advice. How to sleep better. What we ought to be eating. How to raise our children. How to save money. How to get out of debt. How to have better sex. How to live longer. How to have peace of mind. So much advice. So many experts. Some of it is very confusing. One day, eating lettuce is the way to go. The next day, lettuce causes cancer. Then it’s organic lettuce is the way to go. Then it’s not. Then chocolate is good for you. Then it’s not. A person can become dizzy with all of this conflicting advice.

For someone who is young, like Ahaziah was, it is difficult to know who to trust and what to believe. It is especially hard when his own mother was giving him bad advice. However, he was grown up. He was a man. He could have stood for himself. The advice that he listened to was to his destruction. It led to his early death. He was like a meteor that flashes across the sky. He was gone as fast as he came and he didn’t do anything worthwhile. He added to the sins of the nation. He term was so brief that little was done.

But what a powerful lesson for us about influences. Who are we listening to and what turns our head and what grabs our attention? Ahaziah reminds us that even within our family, there can be wrong advice, and evil influences. People just love to tell others what to do. The young, the naïve, the gullible are especially likely to be influenced when older family members pressure them to do things.

There are two things a person ought to keep in mind here.

First, the Bible is always right. It’s infallibly written by the Holy God of Heaven. Any advice, any, even coming from parents, preachers, the pulpit that takes us away from what the Bible teaches is wrong. Nothing trumps what God says. Nothing. When someone tells you that you don’t have to do what you read in your Bible, you are getting bum advice. Be careful. It may lead to you destruction.

Second, the credibility of the person telling you what to do is extremely important. Getting financial advice from a family member who has mountains of debt and is going no where financially is wrong and dumb. Getting advice for your marriage from someone who has been in and out of multiple marriages is wrong and dumb. Listening to someone dispute what the Bible says, who has never read it nor lives a righteous life is wrong and dumb. Listening to someone who doesn’t take inspiration of the Bible seriously, nor grasps basic Bible doctrines is wrong and dumb.

I have witnessed those who were about the age of Ahaziah, buying books from a religious bookstore and swallowing the contents as if God wrote that book and then expressing the craziest ideas that destroys their faith. I have seen those leave the truth of God’s word to worship in ways the Bible does not approve of because they were influenced by what they read in a religious book. I am a lover of religious books. I have literally thousands. I read them all the time. I also recognize that many, if not most, do not speak the same thing the Bible does. If one is not very careful, they can be influenced away from God.

Getting advice to ditch a marriage because you are unhappy can lead to your destruction. Parents can be more interested in their grown children’s happiness than their righteousness. They hate to see their little princess miserable. So they jump on the complaining band wagon. “I never did like him.” “I thought to myself, that you should never have married him.” He isn’t this, and he isn’t that. Complain and gripe and make the misery worse than what it is and before long, that daughter decides to move back home and end the marriage. She is not listening to what God says. She is being influenced by parents who are more interested in her personal happiness than the holiness of their marriage and the promises that were made to God.

The lessons of Ahaziah are repeated over and over every day. Good people are led down the wrong path by folks who do not know the Bible and who are only interested in pleasing self. We are influenced by opening the doors of our mind and hearts to others. I grew up at the tail end of the British Invasion. The Beatles, Dave Clark Five—loved them. Loved the way they looked. Loved the they way they sang. Loved the accents. I wanted to move to England. I wanted to be a formula one race car driver who raced in Europe. What a dopey idea that was. But we are influenced. TV influences us if we let it. Some shows are very negative and loose with language. Before long, one can find themselves having a negative attitude and being very loose with their own language. Influences. Magazines do that. Books do that. Music does that. People do that. Families do that.

The key is to always keep your spiritual radar on. Saturate yourself with the word of God. Recognize when something doesn’t sound right. Be sensitive to wrong. Notice wrong behavior. Recognize those things. Don’t drift off in slumber spiritually. Don’t turn off your radar. If you do, you’ll be influenced. You’ll say words that you thought you never would. You’ll think things that you never thought you would. All because you allowed yourself to be influenced.

The old story of the pied piper illustrates the power of influence. Help your kids. They come home from school or playing with others and you catch them saying words that you do not allow in your house. How did that happen? They were influenced. They want to be like others. They don’t know how to keep their radar turned on. You must help them. You must be the mute button for them. You must be the guide for them.

Poor Ahaziah didn’t have a mom like that. She was part of his problem. She encouraged him to do wrong. Her wicked influences led to the death of her son.

Spiritual radar—that’s the key. Knowing the word of God—that’s the key. Without those two things, we’ll be right behind Ahaziah, heading to the land of destruction.

Roger