October 16
‘Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’ James 1:4
Bible reading: 2 Kings 14:1-6 (Go to the Bible passage)
Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, we read in this passage.
What does that leave to be desired? He did exactly what the law said. He executed the officials who had murdered his father Joash, but he did not kill their entire family, as the neighboring peoples were used to do. No, for Moses had commanded: ‘Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin’ (Deuteronomy 24:16).
Amaziah knew the law of God thoroughly and he obeyed it. In the New Testament we read several times about people who were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly (Luke 1:6). What zeal, what dedication! But the apostle Paul says that ‘they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness’ (Romans 10:2,3).
This was the case with Amaziah, and often so it is with us. If we just have a well-balanced personality and a lot of perseverance and ambition, we can manage to uphold God’s law quite satisfactory. But God is not glorified by the zeal of our flesh. By this zeal we only confirm the devil’s statement, who makes us believe that we can be like God (Genesis 3:5). Truly blameless in the sight of God we only become when we entirely trust in Him, and reject everything in which we might put our trust besides Him.

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