Not just in the Early Years

July 26, 2012   **Thursday. Starbucks. 10:05am**

2 Chronicles 17:3-6

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early years and did not worship the images of Baal.  He sought his father's God and obeyed his commands instead of following the evil practices of the kingdom of Israel.  So the Lord established Jehoshaphat's control over the kingdom of Judah.  All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed.  He was deeply committed to the ways of the Lord.  He removed the pagan shrines and Asherah Poles from Judah.

Jehoshaphat was David's great-great-great grandson.  King Asa was his father. Asa followed God in the early years, but as success reached him, he became self-reliant and fell away from God. At the final years of his reign, it was prophesied that he was going to be continually in war with other and eventually died with a foot disease.  Jehoshaphat must have saw his father's history and learned from his mistakes.  This lesson made him a very successful and wise king.  

We should all learn these lessons, to follow God not just in the early years but throughout our lives.  I want to seek God and obey all the commands that He tells me.  I hope and pray that I will do just this, not just in the early years, the honeymoon stages of any relationship, but throughout all of my life.

Lord, please keep me aware of those early years.  The early years of goodness, the romance, the love, the salvation days when I first decided to follow you, the good ole days of yonder....When I forget or things get me distracted, I will give you permission NOW to do whatever it takes for me to look to you once again, but I PRAY that I will ALWAYS follow you.  Please teach and help me to not want or to become like the Israelite wanderers who circled the mountain so many times for 40 years!

I want to follow you, not just in the Early Years.

<3