God Must Come Before Family

Note from today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 15-16; 2 Chronicles 13-17

After the kingdom was divided following the reign of Solomon, the southern kingdom (Judah) had a mix of good and wicked kings. One of the kings who was mostly good was Asa. He “did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father” (1 Kings 15:11).

A common problem during the days of the kings was idolatry. The people of God were often tempted to adopt the idolatrous practices of the nations around them. So the first thing mentioned that Asa did right was that he “put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed the idols which his fathers had made” (1 Kings 15:12).

Attempting to stamp out idolatry was necessary and commendable. Yet doing so required him to confront someone close to him – his mother. “He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron” (1 Kings 15:13). Even though this involved family, Asa was not going to allow that relationship to stop him from doing what he needed to do to please the Lord. This is a lesson that we need to keep in mind today.

So remember that God must come before family. Though it is tempting to tolerate sin in order to maintain peace with loved ones, we cannot do that and please the Lord. Jesus “did not come to bring peace, but a sword,” and if we love family “more than [Him],” then we are “not worthy of [Him]” (Matthew 10:34, 37).