I am sure you remember the story about Joash. He became King of Judah at the age of 7, and he repaired the temple; it's a well-known children's story. Today I read his entire story. Joash was raised in the temple by a priest, Johoida, who is the one who put him on the throne. Joash's evil grandmother had siezed the throne and killed everyone else in his family. This is great stuff. So anyway, Joash becomes king and he listens to Johoida the priest and he follows God. He has the priests repair the temple; he even fusses at them for not starting right away. About 38 years go by, Jehoida grows old and dies. Then comes the part that doesn't make it into the children's storybooks.
After Jehoida died, Joash turned away from God. He turned away from the temple and the priests, and He worshipped idols. He wouldn't even listen to Jehoida's son, a prophet of the Lord. He went so far as to have Jehoida's son stoned to death in the courtyard of the temple. Not long after this King Joash was murdered and they did not even bury him with the Kings of Judah, because he had become evil.
This story is scary. How does a man follow God for so long and then fall to such depths? I don't know, but it still happens today. Perhaps he never followed God at all, perhaps he only followed Jehoida the Priest. Perhaps he only did what was expected of him, rather than obeying God out of love for Him.
Who do you follow? Do you follow God or man? Why?
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