Asa started well as king. He made wise adjustments along the way. Sadly, he did not finish well. 

He had everything he required to lead well. He should have learned from his successes. Chapter 15 is full of encouraging wisdom. The blessings of wholehearted devotion are joyfully declared. Chapter 16 says, however, that in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, he acted contrary to his habits on display in chapter 15. Instead of keeping his life and leadership in God’s hands, he took things into his own hands. 

God, in his kindness, sent a prophet to turn Asa’s heart back to God. (See 16:7-10.) Instead of turning back to God, he put the prophet in jail. What did the prophet say that made Asa so angry? Take a look at 16:9.

“For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him.
You have been foolish in this matter.
Therefore, you will have wars from now on.”

Asa had stopped being hopefully devoted to God. His reign of peace and God’s protection became a reign of constant conflict. It didn’t have to be that way. The first part of verse 9 tells us how things could have been different and how Asa could have finished well.

“For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him.”

We never outgrow our need for a deep and abiding walk with God. We never arrive at the place where we do not need his wisdom, guidance, and strength. God never gets tired of providing counsel, courage, and compassionate care for those wholeheartedly devoted to him. 

God wants you to live a beautiful life more than you do. He wants to delight you with his goodness. He wants to express his love, mercy, and grace through you. He wants to show you how good he truly is. 

What would be different if we awakened each day with the mindset to live wholeheartedly devoted to God in all things?

What would be different if we were determined to follow his plan for our lives all the way to the end?

What would be different if we trusted God for what we need when we need it now and always?

One last thing. Take a look at 2 Chronicles 16:11-14. Three years after the events earlier in this chapter, King Asa “developed a disease in his feet, and his disease became increasingly severe. Yet even in his disease he didn’t seek the LORD but only the physicians,” (verse 12). 

Asa stopped walking with God. God took away his ability to walk. This does not mean God is looking to handicap recalcitrant followers. It should help us remember how our walk with God is not a seasonal matter but a lifestyle until the end of our days. 

Do you remember how Psalm 23 ends? Verse 6 says,

Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me 
all the days of my life, 
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 
as long as I live.

God’s goodness and faithful love are always pursuing us. The question is, do we want to be caught? 

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I will walk with God all the days of my life.

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Our Father, thank you for pursuing me. Thank you for how you want better things for me than what I want for myself. Thank you for showing yourself strong to those who are wholeheartedly devoted to you. Thank you for how Psalm 23 ends with the echo of how it begins: “The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need.” Amen.