Learning From Mistakes

Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.  His mother’s name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord.  And the people did yet corruptly.

II Chronicles 27:1-2

Jotham became king after his father, Uzziah died at the end of chapter 26.  Uzziah started out to be a good king and the Bible does say that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.  The Lord blessed him and he became a powerful king.  However, this prosperity led to his downfall because it filled him with pride and he went into the temple to burn incense.  That may not seem like a big deal, but it was not his job to do that, chapter 26, verse 18 tells us that the priests told him not to do it: “it appertaineth not the thee.”  Even though he wasn’t supposed to do it, he did it anyway and God immediately struck him with leprosy and he died a leper.

Fortunately, his son, Jotham, learned something from his mistake.  I like the way the Bible words things.  It tells us that he did “that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did.”  Uzziah was a good king and served the Lord, until he became prideful.  Jotham copied his father’s good example.  But it also tells us that “he entered not into the temple of the Lord.”  Not only did Jotham copy his father’s good example, he also learned from his father’s mistake and the Bible specifically points out that he did not make the same one. 

Some people we can look at and follow as wonderful examples of the way a Christian should live.  Other people we can look at and learn from their mistakes.  And, often, we can look at another Christian (or ourselves, for that matter) and find both good things to copy and not so good things to avoid.  And, in those ways, we can help each other to follow the Lord.

The Test of Success

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

II Chronicles 26:16

This verse is referring to King Uzziah, who, in verse four, is said to have done “that which was right in the sight of the Lord.”  Verse five tells us that “he sought God in the days of Zechariah” and that “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.”  He was a good king, a prosperous king, and a powerful king.  But his power and success turned out to be his downfall.

The Bible tells us in this verse that “when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.”  It is easy to get proud.  It is easy to let pride creep into your life even as the Lord is blessing you.  The Lord is good to us and He blesses us.  He “daily loadeth us with benefits”, Psalm 68:19 tells us.  But it is easy to look at all we have and begin to forget where we got it.  It is easy to start to think that maybe we are where we are because of something great or good that we ourselves have done.  That is where king Uzziah found himself.

When his heart was “lifted up” with pride, he fell.  Proverbs tells us that “pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18)  Uzziah failed the test of success and prosperity.  The Lord blessed him, and his heart filled with pride instead of thankfulness and gratitude.  How will we do or how are we doing on our own “tests of success?”  Let us allow king Uzziah’s example to help humble us and keep us from sinful pride!

Thorns and Nettles

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

Proverbs 24:30-34

I wrote a little about these verses the other day from the standpoint that this man looked at the field of the slothful and learned from it.  But I’ve still been thinking about these verses, and I think I will write a little more about them. 

Being a gardener myself, I can easily understand this illustration of a field and vineyard being overgrown with thorns and nettles.  I have a small garden and several varieties of small fruit, along with several fruit trees.  I do have two grape vines, but that doesn’t quite qualify as a “vineyard.”  Still, I never cease to be amazed at how easily the weeds can overtake a garden or bush.  I don’t have to go out and “plant” crabgrass and bull thistles and dandelions.  All I have to do is ignore my garden for a short period of time.  If I take a week long vacation in the summer, I can come back to find weeds everywhere. 

It is the same in our spiritual life.  We don’t have to go out “looking for” sin.  We don’t have to make a conscious effort to reject the Lord.  All we have to do is ignore our spiritual walk for a period of time.  Our flesh does not want to do right and we will not do right unless we are constantly following the Lord and yielding to Him.  The weeds of sin will spring up quickly and choke out the good fruit in our lives if we aren’t careful.

The man in these verses is described as “slothful”, or, lazy.  He had a field and a vineyard, but he didn’t put forth the effort to take care of them.  We need to make sure that isn’t us in a spiritual sense.  There are always “weeds” that need taken out in the garden of our hearts!  Time to do some weeding!

Made to Prosper

Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem.  His mother’s name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did.  And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

II Chronicles 26:2-5

As the Bible records the history of the nation of Israel, with every mention of a king comes a very brief account of what he did.  Usually the Bible will tell us if a king did “that which was evil” or “that which was right.”  It is interesting to note that even those kings who “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” made mistakes and had problems.  Good kings such as David, Asa, and in this case, Uzziah all had their problems.  There was never a “perfect” king of Israel, except obviously Jesus and the people said that “we will not have this man to rule over us.”  Anyway, I digress. 

 Uzziah was, according to these verses, a good king.  He “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.”  Verse five tells us that he “sought God.”  And do you know what happened when he “sought God?”  “God made him to prosper.”  Think about that: God made him prosper.  It doesn’t say that God “allowed” him to prosper.  He made him to prosper.  Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to be “made to prosper” by the Creator of the universe?

But there was a condition on this prospering: “as long as he sought the Lord…”  Later in the same chapter, he decided not to seek the Lord, and, sure enough, he stopped prospering.  Our success in life is based not on the amount of money or fame that we can accumulate.  Our success in life is based on whether we seek the Lord and follow Him or not.  That is the true “secret” to a prosperous and successful life: seek Him!

Always Learning

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

Proverbs 24:30-32

“Learn from the mistakes of others because you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself” is a good quote that I have seen attributed to everyone from Ben Franklin to Eleanor Roosevelt.  Whoever it was that came up with it first, it is a good thought and one that fits perfectly with this passage of Proverbs.

In these verses, the writer is passing by “the field of the slothful.”  He is basically going past a lazy man’s farm.  He notices things about it: he notices that it is overgrown with thorns and nettles, and that the wall was broken down.  It was in a state of disrepair and was obvious that the owner had not taken care of it as he should have.  And then verse 32 gives us the “clincher”: “I saw”, “I considered it well”, “I looked upon it” and “I received instruction.” 

Everything in life is a potential learning experience.  When we make a mistake, we should learn from it so that we do not make the same mistake again.  When we see someone else make a mistake, we should also learn from that so that we do not make the same mistake. There are lessons to be learned all around us.  God has many things to teach us every day, but how often are we not paying attention?  Let us pay attention to all of the things the Lord would have us to learn!

Mary’s Praise

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Luke 1:46-47

We call it the “Christmas story”- the story of the birth of Jesus Christ to the virgin Mary.  And I love the Christmas story.  But it goes far beyond something to celebrate just once a year during the Christmas season.  It is the story of God coming to Earth in human form to take away our sins.  It is the story of our “hope of eternal salvation.”  It is the story of the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  It is the story of our Saviour.

In these verses (and ones following), Mary gives quite a song of praise to the Lord.  And the things we find Mary doing in these verses are things we should find ourselves doing every day. 

1. She “magnified the Lord.”
-Are we “magnifying the Lord?”  Do our lives bring honor and glory to Him or do we live to bring honor and glory to ourselves?

2. Her spirit “rejoiced in God my Saviour.”
-Where is our rejoicing?  Is it in “God my Saviour”, or is it in something else?  When we think of all the Lord has done for us, we really can’t help but rejoice.  The Christian life is a life of rejoicing!

Let us say with Mary that our “soul doth magnify the Lord” and that our spirit “rejoiced in God our Saviour.”

The Haven of Rest (Hymn)

The Haven of Rest
Henry Lake Gilmore

1. My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea,
   So burdened with sin and distressed,
   Till I heard a sweet voice, saying, “Make Me your choice”;
   And I entered the “Haven of Rest”!
   • Refrain:
     I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
     I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
     The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
     In Jesus I’m safe evermore.
2. I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
   In faith taking hold of the Word,
   My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul;
   The “Haven of Rest” is my Lord.
3. The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole,
   Has been the old story so blest,
   Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have
   A home in the “Haven of Rest.”
4. How precious the thought that we all may recline,
   Like John, the beloved so blest,
   On Jesus’ strong arm, where no tempest can harm,
   Secure in the “Haven of Rest.”
5. Oh, come to the Savior, He patiently waits
   To save by His power divine;
   Come, anchor your soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
   And say, “My Beloved is mine.”

I love the image of our Saviour as a “Haven of Rest”.  There are so many burdens that people bear and so many times people struggle so hard to figure everything out for themselves.  Jesus is our Haven of Rest.  And I love the line in the chorus “In Jesus, I’m safe evermore”.

Yet…

Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king.  Then the king hearkened unto them.  And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.  Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord: and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

II Chronicles 24:17-19

“Yet.”  Yet is a powerful word.  In this passage, King Joash had been under the Godly influence of Jehoiada and had let the nation accordingly.  However, after the death of Jehoiada, ungodly prices of Judah came to the king and he started listening to them.  They caused him, and the whole country with him, to “leave the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and serve groves and idols”.  The king and the people rejected God and started worshipping and serving false gods.

“Yet.”  “Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord.”  Even though they had made a conscious choice to reject God and serve other gods, still God had enough compassion on them to send His Word to them.  The same is true of us.  When we reject God, He still has mercy on us and still tries to send His Word to bring us back to Himself.  He is a God who “delights in mercy” (Micah 7:18).  There have been many times I have rejected Him and He could have destroyed me on the spot.  “Yet” He sent His word and had mercy on me.  I am very thankful for the “yet” moments in my life.

Unfortunately, Joash didn’t heed the prophets.  But we do not have to make the same mistake.  When we mess up, we need to take heed to the “yets” that God gives us!

Now or Later

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:10-11

I was reading this passage in Philippians (which happens to be one of my favorite books of the Bible) and a simple thought came to me.  This post will not be a long one, but my hope and prayer is that it will cause us to think about something. 

These verses tell us that “every” knee should bow to the Lord and that “every” tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  And these things should be done to the “glory of God the Father”.  How are we doing on those three things?

Are we “bowing our knee” to His will in our lives?

Are we “confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord” with our tongues?

And are we doing it all “to the glory of God the Father”?

To me, that seems like a microcosm of the entire Christian life: following Him, speaking of Him and doing it all for His glory.

Stand Still…

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

II Chronicles 20:15, 17

The Lord here tells the Israelites not to worry; that the battle is His.  There was a great multitude that was getting ready to come against them and, humanly speaking, it would have definitely been a cause for fear and maybe even panic.  But God knows no fear, nor does He know panic.  Everything is His, He controls everything, and there is nothing He can’t do.  Whether the Israelites knew it or not, and whether we know it or not, He is in complete control.  We might lose sight of that fact occasionally, and we might not be able to fully comprehend it, but He is always in control.

I found it interesting that He did not tell the people to go up and fight against their enemies.  God had told the Israelites to go to battle and He would give them the victory many times.  But this time, He just told them to “stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”  He told them that, in this battle, they wouldn’t even need to fight.  And, as always, what He said came to pass.

As it turned out, the armies that were getting ready to attack God’s people turned on each other and attacked themselves.  They destroyed themselves and the Israelites simply had to go up and take the spoil because the battle was already over.  Sometimes it’s good in life to just “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”.  Sometimes He gives us the victory in a particular battle in our lives and sometimes He just takes the battle and wins it for us.  What a great God we serve!