Let’s start out with a little exercise. I’d like for you to think of 5 people in your life. Some that are very close, some that are work or church acquaintances, and some that are casual friends or neighbors. Now I want you to describe their lives in one sentence. Yep, you only get one sentence. And you have to be brutally honest. What would you say about their life in so few words? How do you describe a life in only one short sentence?
You may have thought this exercise was pretty hard, but just wait. You don’t know it, but I have secretly contacted those same 5 people and asked them to do the same thing for you. How do you think these people that know you would describe your life using just one sentence? Now let’s take it up even one more notch. I want you to write your own sentence. Yes, you heard me right. You have one sentence to honestly describe your life, what are you going to write?
And just when you thought this crazy little game couldn’t get any crazier, do you know that God does indeed practice this very same exercise? Yep, the God that created you, peers into the depths of your heart, and knows every thought and deed you perform, can and will describe your entire life in one sentence. Really starts to make you think doesn’t it?
I bring this up because we are launching into a section of the Old Testament where we will see this practice ad nauseum. For the rest of 1 Kings, 2 Kings and both books of Chronicles, we will see a plethora of kings. Since the Israelite kingdom has split in civil war, some kings will rule the northern empire called Israel and some will rule the southern empire called Judah. But they will all have one thing in common. As God rifles through the story of each, He will describe their life and reign in one single sentence.
Today we will see the lives of 4 kings in 1 Kings chapter 15. Let’s take a look at their sentences.
Nadab. “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.” 1 Kings 15:26
Baasha. “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.” 1 Kings 15:34
Abijam. “And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.” 1 Kings 15:3
Asa. “And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done.” 1 Kings 15:3
We will see a total of 42 kings that will rule over either a unified Israel or one of the lesser split kingdoms. And folks, are you ready for this? Out of those 42 kings…only 6 started good and finished good. If there is any indication about the ratio of good hearts in our world, this is it. Let that sink in really good.
As we start cruising through the core of the stories of the king’s reigns, get ready for this phrase to be repeated over and over and over. And He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Evil being generally defined as “profoundly immoral or wicked.” But let’s take it a few steps further and define evil as God might define it. Blatantly and willingly disobeying any commandment of God to rather seek personal fulfillment. It’s funny, that just sounds an awful lot like reveling and taking pride in your sin doesn’t it? And of course, all of this evil is done right before the very eyes of God. His eyes encounter every single thing we do, think or say.
Notice something else about the evil in this time. It was passed down. All four kings in chapter 15 today have the names of at least one parent given before, after or within their sentence. You see, we can and will learn evil on our own, but unfortunately, we live in a world where countless evil is taught through poor parenting. Evil is being taught to children all over this world today from merely watching the very actions of their own evil parents. Evil parents made evil children and those evil children became the kings of Israel.
Folks, today, start working on your sentence. Sit down, give it some real thought and effort and put pen to paper. What does your sentence say about following God in obedience? But don’t fret, you see, in the glory of God, your sentence doesn’t have to speak ill of you solely based on your past. Maybe you did what was evil in the sight of the Lord yesterday, but no longer want to walk in those evil ways. You can change your sentence. God made a way. He loved the world and everyone in it so much that He sent His only Son here to live and die so that we could one day see Heaven. You see, because Jesus died on the Cross and was raised three days later, the shame of your sinful sentence can be changed. If you admit your sin and ask Jesus to save you from that sin, He will cover your sin in His perfect Holy righteousness. And as you become a child of God through the precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God will now see your sentence much differently. He will no longer see a life that did evil in His sight, He will see a heart that has been clothed in the pure white atonement of His Son Jesus Christ. And folks, all that matters, is the sentence that God writes.
Today, change your sentence. In our list of 42 kings, we see this done only once. Manasseh started as one of the most evil kings in Israelite history, but God sent a harsh rebuke to correct him, and he listened. He cried out to God and God was faithful to save him from his dilemma with death. Manasseh became a righteous king and went from doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Call out to Jesus to save you from the death of your sin today, and watch God rewrite the sentence of your life.
If you are reading this, you are being prayed for.
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