2 Kings 15 & 2 Chronicles 26 – 27
After a brief stint in Amos, we launch back into the king chronicles and find a few kings who appear to be doing the right thing.
“He (Uzziah) did what was right in the eyes fo the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought after God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God…” 2 Chronicles 26:4 – 5
Why was he doing right in the eyes of the Lord? Because he sought after God.
Why do you think he sought after God…? Because he was being instructed in the fear of the Lord, the word of God, and he was living in response to that. Uzziah was hearing God’s word and living it out, not because he has a good heart but because God was enabling him, helping him live obediently.
You know this can never last… I mean, come on – this king is like us… sinful, selfish and… PRIDEFUL.
“His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. But after uzziah became powerful, his pride lead to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God…” 2 Chronicles 26:15b – 16
Uzziah’s pride led him to think he knew better than God… Uzziah defied God’s commands for the temple and burning incense. He was unfaithful and dishonoured God. His punishment – leprosy for the rest of his life so he was confined to his house.
It is so easy for us to delude ourselves into thinking that we deserve a relationship with God and that we deserve the things that God blesses us with. We delude ourselves into thinking that there is something good in us that makes God choose us, that makes God bless us and save us. We can all be a bit like Uzziah, who hear God’s word each day and start noticing a bit of fame – whether it is good at what we do at work, whether we’re good at sport, art or music, or even whether we are good at the ministry we’re involved in at church… It is shocking how pride seeps in and steals God’s glory for our own.
Praise God for Jesus, who was the true king that humbly served his people by dying on the cross. How amazing it is that he didn’t claim the glory that he deserve, the throne of heaven. Instead his throne was a cross. We have no basis for pride in our relationship with God because it is all about Jesus claiming that relationship for us.
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