Why do we listen to people who just want to lure us away from God?
King Joash had reigned since he was seven years old, having been protected as an infant and saved because of the actions of Jehoiada, the priest of Yahweh.
Now he was dead, and the king is no longer listening to the voice of God!
Do you have children?
I know that mine were better at listening to me as young children that they did as teenagers when the thought that I was old and just not understanding of their world!
As adults, they listen better!
But, we are often teenagers when we listen to God's words to us.
As children in faith, we are more attuned to God's voice because we have made a decision to follow him.
King Joash had even raised money to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and had gold and silver melted to allow them to have the sacred vessels needed for worship.
Now?
We can become jaded by the world and think that the world knows more about life than God!
I have often referred to the Bible as "God's instruction manual."
If you have ever tried to put something together, you know what I mean!
We have choices to make.
We can get out the instructions, follow them and come up with the finished product that is just what we were looking for.
Or, we can put aside the instructions; work for hours trying to figure out how to do it; have some pieces left over, and have a product that doesn't work the way it should.
Often that means that we need to take it apart and start all over.
In that, we are better off than Joash, who would find Judah and Jerusalem devastated by the army of Syria and killed by his own servants.
We will not lose our lives by not following instructions when putting together a piece of furniture, but if we ignore God's instruction book, we may lose eternal life.
