So Abraham was about 120 years old when God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac.
And Moses was 120 years old when he obeyed the Lord and didn’t make one last rush into the Promised Land that he so desperately had wanted to enter.
And Daniel was past 70 when he was forced to choose between faith and avoiding an evening with the lions.
So this pervasive “I’ve already put in my time volunteering” idea among Christians is at odds with God’s view of faith, is it not?
It’s ironic and unfortunate that those with the most wisdom and experience in churches — the older folk — too often fall into the trap of thinking that faith can be shifted into a coasting mode.
It’s also quite dangerous to those who embrace this lie.
The fact is that faith and coasting are mutually exclusive.
It’s sort of like a tug-of-war contest. If we’re not pulling, we’re going to be dragged in a direction that will leave us and those we love as losers.
Please learn this morning from the example of King Asa in the Old Testament.
The book of 2 Chronicles tells of how Asa was wonderfully faithful throughout 36 of his 41 years on the throne. During that time, marvelous things happened for the Southern Kingdom of Israel, primarily because Asa led his people on a path of faithfulness.
Listen to the words of a prayer recorded in 2 chronicles 14:11 when the Cushite army was preparing to attack Asa’s army for the purpose of destroying the Southern Kingdom:
“Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, ‘Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.’”
God graciously responded by supernaturally enabling Asa’s army to wipe out the Cushite army.
Various signs of God’s favor followed in succeeding years as Asa promoted faithfulness to God throughout his kingdom. Decades of peaceful existence were enjoyed by the people of the Southern Kingdom.
Sadly, though, Asa chose to forget the words given him in those good days by a prophet named Azariah sent from God. Listen to this simple yet profound message that still rings true today:
“The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” (2 Chronicles 15:2)
If only Asa would have embraced that message until the day he died. Sadly, Asa stopped trusting the Lord in the last years of his life.
The pagan Northern Kingdom started efforts that could have led to a later, all-out attack on Asa’s Southern Kingdom. Rather than pray for God’s help as he had done before, Asa instead trusted gold and silver to buy protection by the godless armies of Damascus.
Big mistake. And even bigger sin.
The prophet Hanani came to Asa with the bitter news that his forsaking of trust in God would lead to God’s forsaking of protecting the kingdom from war.
As if that weren’t bad enough, Asa developed a painful disease in his feet. Again, he did not turn to God, but instead to human physicians.
That didn’t help and Asa died an inglorious, painful death.
If only Asa would have remained faithful throughout his life, things would have gone better for him and for his people.
Please, my friend, recognize that there is no such thing as retiring from faithfulness.
Believing but not serving is NOT faithfulness.
Plan now to never retire from trusting God to empower you for spiritual battles throughout your life.
For you can be sure that Satan won’t retire from trying to destroy your soul or the lives of the people you love.
As always, I love you
Martin
