Quit Being Stupid!!

Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid” (NIV)

I was up tonight and found myself at the office reading my word and listening to theramp.org. I wound up reading 2 Chronicles 14-16, three short chapters about the story of King Asa. He was the king of Judah and brought great reformation and revival to the people of Judah. He was just rocking the devil’s head, tearing down all the altars, seeking the Lord, and getting the people to seek the Lord. They even made a wholehearted covenant to seek the Lord and killed those who would not seek the Lord. This guy even kicked his own grandmother out of her position because she had idols set up. It was a drastic reformation and in all of this he sought God. Then in the 36th year of his reign the king of Israel (his enemy) went up against him and actually begin to build a wall around the city of Judah to keep anyone from coming out or going in.

When King Asa found himself being enclosed or put in a restricted place he began to get caught up in fear and flesh instead of faith. He sought to try and solve his problem by seeking help from man instead of God. This was a great reformer, on fire for God and pursued him with everything but he had a lapse. We’ve all had moments like this. We could be going hard for the things of God and then that one thing constricts our movement and we have a lapse. Try to handle it through men instead of going to God. This isn’t where I’m focusing. In chapter 16, God sends a seer to Asa to show him his error and what he should have done. But look at his response, “Asa was angry with the seer because of this (rebuke or correction); he was so enraged that he put him in prison.” (Emphasis added mine) King Asa never recovered from this; he never took the advice and corrected the problem. He continued to seek help from men instead of God, which lead to his demise.

His response was everything. As I read this I immediately thought about Joshua and the battle of Ai. The one time he didn’t seek God and instead sought the answer out in man he failed. He tore his clothes and wept and the Lord came and rebuked Joshua and told him how to fix it. This was Joshua’s response, “Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes and Judah was taken” (Joshua 7:16) Instead of getting mad at God, he took the rebuke and advice and corrected the problem. Because of that we know what happens; he went on to possess the land promised to him.

We all make mistakes, even while going hard after God but how we respond to his correction is critical. God said he chastens or disciplines those he loves (Rev. 3:19). There are numerous passages talking about the benefits of correction, it’s not something to be taken lightly. If we mess up and someone corrects us to get back on the right path, how dare we try to get angry! Sometimes it takes someone on the outside looking in to show us where we messed up and help us get back on track. I leave you with the words of Job,

Job 5:17a “Blessed is the man whom God corrects…”