Let Your Hands Not Be Weak
Today’s Verse:
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. ~1 Chronicles 15:7
King Asa was in the 15th year of his 41-year reign. He did many valiant things during those first 15 years. He put away most of the idol worship, and led the people of Judah to follow the Lord. He demonstrated great faith and reliance upon the Lord when the Ethiopians tried to overtake Judah. However, he was in a critical moment of his reign and spiritual life. After a while, it is easy for us to slack off from our focus and let things slip. It is easy for us to be comfortable and forget how much we need God. Frankly, we can get too busy doing our own thing and forget what the Lord wants us to do. It was at this critical moment God sent the prophet Azariah to Asa. Azariah gave him a stern commandment from God and exhorted him: “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.” This morning let us take to heart the spirit in which we are to serve the Lord.
Let our work be with counsel.
Azariah was God’s prophet to Asa. In nine verses Asa was given spot on counsel on how to serve the Lord. If we are to serve the Lord acceptably, we must have a spirit of meekness by which we receive the engrafted Word. God’s Word never fails. God’s Word is always timely. However, our human tendency is to get used to what we hear, place little value on the application, and we let His Word fall to the ground. Every time God’s Word is preached, there is valuable counsel give on how to do God’s work.
Let our work be with courage.
We are told that Asa took courage to put away the abominable idols and renewed the altar of the Lord. These were things that had been placed on the back burner for the previous 15 years. God told him to be strong in spite of pushback and get it done. It takes great courage to publicly condemn the worship of false gods and give preeminence to the worship of the one true and living God. Too many of us are silent about our faith and are not proactive in getting the Word of God to people who need to hear it. We must be strong and courageous.
Let our work be with character.
Asa was told to be strong and let not his hands be weak. God was telling him not to be feeble and timid. Don’t buckle to the voice of the critic. Don’t let popular opinion determine what you are supposed to do. Don’t let your peers keep you from doing more for the Lord. When it is time to serve the Lord, we must do it with vigor, enthusiasm, perseverance and much effort. As the saying goes, take the bull by the horns!
Let our work be with conviction.
As Asa took away the abominable idols, he had to deal with pushback in his own family. His mother was a major idol worshipper. With conviction, he removed her from being queen. He took a stand against the idol she had built, broke and stamped it into pieces and burned it at the brook Kidron. He decided sin was sin and it had to be dealt with, even within his own family
Let our work be with contribution.
When the people that were watching from afar saw his heart for the Lord, came and joined ranks with him. People are attracted to a man who loves God and takes a stand for Him. In addition, he took things that had been dedicated by his father and himself, and brought these into the house of the Lord. He sacrificed and made a major contribution for the work. The work for God is never without cost and sacrifice.
Let our work be completed.
The best part of all this is he finished unfinished business. God gave him 20 years of rest when He saw that Asa’s service was complete.
Let not your hands be weak! Let the devotion and Scripture this morning awaken you to the fact that God has more for you to do!
Have a strengthened God morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Matthew 9-10