2 Chronicles 25:1-2; “Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and none years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoad’dan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.”
King Amaziah ruled Judah after his father, Joash, had been killed by disease and at the hand of his servants. The eighth king of Judah, Amaziah’s reign was not one of the worst and yet it was far from being good.
1. He did his best to avenge his fathers death. He killed the servants that killed his father.
2. He did his best to observe the command of God by not killing the servants children (vs. 4; Deut. 24:16).
3. He was a cruel conqueror of the Edomites; took some of the gods of Edom, and
4. Became a foolish worshipper of those false gods; and brought upon himself the punishment for worshipping false gods
5. He also, very rashly challenged Joash, the king of Israel and his counterpart in the twin Hebrew kingdoms; and
6. He lost everything, kingdom, wealth, health, and his life for doing so. He lost everything he had and ended his days with no glory or honor. He died after serving for only 15 years.
The Scripture says, “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord”. He worshipped the true God, kept the temple services going, countenanced religion in his kingdom, but he didn’t do it “with a perfect heart.” He was not a man of serious piety or devotion himself and had no real zeal or desire for the exercises of religion. He was no enemy to religion, but was a cool and indifferent friend. Sounds like many people are in these today’s times.
The point to see here is that King Amaziah did all the right things, but he wasn’t “wholehearted” about it. You can do right things and still not be blessed.
Why? Because you did it with the wrong attitude. Take, for example, the subject of giving. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 the Message Bible; “I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing…great praise to God.”
