“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.”
– Isaiah 1:16-17

God’s point is very clear, isn’t it? These matters aren’t some secondary concern to the Lord. Justice, righteousness, working to stop oppression, and defending the vulnerable is absolutely integral to God’s heart. These things are much more important to God than putting on the trappings and appearances of religion. Nearly all the Old Testament prophets spoke on these matters, as did Jesus, Who is the ultimate embodiment of them.

Take these verses as an invitation to examine your conduct and priorities. Knowing how important they are to God, where do these matters fit in the framework of your own life? #FollowJesus

“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. “ – 2 Chronicles 26:16

As the saying goes, “Pride goeth before the fall.” That was certainly true for King Uzziah. He was very faithful and devoted to God as a young man. Over the years, God blessed him with tremendous success. So much so that Uzziah eventually forgot where all that success came from. He became proud of himself and all that he’d done. He began to think so highly of himself that he lost his concern for God’s Law. He felt comfortable taking the priest’s job in addition to his own. And he certainly paid the price for his pride!

Unfortunately, what happened to godly young King Uzziah easily happens to many who love the Lord and experience His abundant goodness and blessing. Over time, it becomes far too easy to forget that all our victories and blessings come from the Lord. We begin to believe what people so often say to us about how great we are. The temptation to elevate ourselves to places reserved for God grows and grows.

Uzziah’s story is the story of most Jesus-loving Christian leaders who ultimately fall into sin that wrecks their faith, family, and/or ministry. No follower of Jesus is ever immune to this temptation. The only way to protect against it is to be extremely aware of it at all times. The moment you think it could never happen to you is the moment you fall into serious danger.

Always be honest with yourself! What do you really think about yourself, your skills, your talents, and your accomplishments? How well do you remember to stay humble and depend on the Lord at all times, crediting Him for everything He has entrusted to you? #FollowJesus

“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” – Jonah 1:3

You can’t run from God!!! Jonah was a prophet who didn’t like God’s assignment, so he tried to run away. God was sending Jonah to Israel’s greatest enemy to call them to repent of their sins and be saved. Refusing his assignment, Jonah tried to go as far in the opposite direction as he could. But you can’t outrun God. You can’t hide from God. And you certainly can’t hide from His calling. All you’ll manage to do is make yourself miserable. Jonah certainly did!

Much of Jonah’s story focuses on his misery for trying to resist God’s will. Because He ran from God’s presence, God put him in a multi-day timeout inside a big fish! Jonah had time to repent for his poor decision making, leading him to grudging obedience to the Lord. However, God is never pleased with grudging obedience.

After Ninevah’s widespread repentance, God gave Jonah some object lessons to try and help Jonah think more from God’s perspective than his own. God wanted to elevate Jonah’s thinking, moving it away from his nationalistic hatred of other peoples and toward God’s desire to see all nations saved from their sins. Unfortunately, Jonah was a tough nut to crack.

There are countless lessons in the short book of Jonah. Many are about Ninevah, and by reflection, Israel. However, some are for individual followers of God who simply need to learn to think more like God, care more about what God cares about, and stop running from God’s calling. As a follower of Jesus, how might you need to learn to think more like the Lord? What priorities of God should become far more important to you? Is there an aspect of God’s will that you are trying to run or hide from? #FollowJesus

“And Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?’ The man of God answered, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than this.'” – 2 Chronicles 25:9

Sometimes we can get pretty far down the wrong road before we realize it! However, it’s never too late to turn around and get back on the right road! King Amaziah was going to war. To strengthen his army (in his mind), he spent a fortune to hire an army of mercenaries. That was NOT God’s will.

God warned the king that He wasn’t with those troops. He was only with Amaziah and his army. Amaziah needed to fire his mercenaries in order to please God. Amaziah had made a terribly expensive mistake! To his credit, he didn’t charge forward with his mistake. He accepted that it was better to get off the ungodly path he was on than to protect his reputation by continuing forward with his original plan.

If/when you find yourself in Amaziah’s situation, what will you do? If you suddenly realize that you’ve put your time, treasure, energy, and reputation into something that isn’t God’s will, are you able to admit it and radically change course? Are you willing to forfeit your investment to get back into God’s will? Or do you find it difficult to admit mistakes, let go of time and treasure that’s already been spent, and change course? Reflect on these questions today, so you can more fully #FollowJesus every day.