2 Chronicles 24:22  King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”” (NIV)

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We often live by the guideline of reciprocity and pay something back. We do this for loans received and benefits enjoyed. This works best as an act of gratitude rather than as an expected return. 

Paying something forward is another act of kindness. It seizes the initiative to bless without waiting to be blessed first. It is the decision to lead with kindness. 

King Joash had an advisor who guided him from age six until he was well established as king. Jehoiada was a faithful steward of his role. He instructed the king in the way he should go. He ensured he had what he needed to succeed in life and leadership. God blessed Jehoiada with a good, long life. Verses 15 and 16 give us a fitting summary of a life well lived. 

Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.

Jehoiada led with kindness. 

It’s interesting that he was buried with the kings in the City of David. Because King Joash turned away from God’s path after Jehoiada’s death, he was not buried with the kings. 

King Joash took the blessings of kindness he had received and used that power to murder the son of the man who had blessed him for most of his life. The last recorded words about King Joash’s life give you the distinct impression that no one approved of his turn for the worst. And so “his officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed,” (verse 25).

Not a way to go if you have a choice in the matter, and you do.

You get the idea that Jehoiada’s 130 years of life seemed too short by far. By the same standard, you get the idea that King Joash’s life lingered a couple of years longer than people were willing to endure. 

You and I benefit from someone’s kindness, many someone’s, in fact. Pay it back, and pay it forward. Become a person of automatic kindness. This is the good life. This is the kind of life people celebrate and remember. This is the kind of life that garners the applause of heaven. 

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I will live a life of kindness. 

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Our Father, I am not naturally kind. It’s much easier for me to be selfish than it is to live with extravagant generosity of spirit and means. The only way I can live a life shaped by kindness is by you reshaping me to look and behave ever more like you. Build your kindness into my life. May it touch everything and everyone I’m connected with. Amen.