“Who Has Your Ear?”

One Year Bible (July 29)

2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28

“Who Has Your Ear?”

Are there phrases that sometimes just pop in your head and then come out of your mouth that originated with a different source?

“Well, I wish you'd “LOOK-EE There”! That was my grandpa’s voice!

“Are you NEW HERE?” That’s the voice of a southern friend of mine.

“Ohhhhhhhhh MYYYYYYYY!” That’s my mother’s voice.

We live in the “age of the microphone”. Can you even begin to imagine life without this device? Its purpose is to Amplify. Transmit. Record. It is a powerful tool for Good or Bad.

We can record anything, movies, phone messages, personal notes, or even blackmail. All we do is “Play It Back”.

I have a phone message of the very last message that my mom ever left me, and I hope to keep it forever. She always began her messages with “Debbie, this is your mother.” That part makes me laugh! As if I wouldn’t know it was her. I hear her voice in my head on “Auto-Play” every single day. No introduction is necessary!

My grandsons both attended a Christian preschool and every week they had a chapel service led by one of our staff members, Pastor Mark. How many pastors do you know that would take time out of their busy schedules to lead chapel for very small, wiggly people every single week? Not many, I would venture to say! He plays guitar and leads them in worship and then shares a message from God’s word with them.

One of my “GRANDS” made a funny comment one day. He was in a church service with me at the time, and he was pretty small. He pointed to the stage and said “MARK-A-PHONE”.

This kid makes me laugh… But after I quit laughing, I realized that he was talking about the “Microphone” but he doesn’t know the difference… Pastor Mark’s teaching words about the Lord and his songs are Amplified. Transmitted. Recorded. Yes, they are magnified in his little life… for the good!

I was thinking about the importance of teaching, wise counsel, and the Word of God in our lives and how this pertained to the kings’ lives and outcomes. Let’s take a look at this very principle.

In today’s study, we read about young Joash who became king at the age of seven. He was kind of like my little grandsons. Can you imagine your grandson being in charge of the kingdom?

“Oh, Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!” (See what I mean there. I just heard my mother in my head, and she didn’t even have to introduce herself to me!)

Yet we are told that this “Kingly Kid” excelled in obeying when he was just a “Mini Monarch” but he declined in his old age. (Well, we knew that part, but I mean spiritually as a leader and follower of God.) What went wrong?

“Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.” (24:2)

He was handed the scroll with the very words of the Lord by Jehoiada as a very young child and he was given wise counsel. King Joash repaired and refurbished the Temple of the Lord during this time.

Lucky for the kingdom, Jehoiada lived to be 130 years old! He was then buried among the kings in the City of David, “because he had done so much good in Israel for God and his Temple. But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to THEIR ADVICE. They decided to ABANDON THE TEMPLE of the LORD, the God of their ANCESTORS, and they WORSHIPED Asherah poles and idols instead!”(24:15)But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to THEIR ADVICE. They decided to ABANDON THE TEMPLE of the LORD, the God of their ANCESTORS, and they WORSHIPED Asherah poles and idols instead!”(24:15)

What in the world was this “Mini Majesty” thinking? Now, I don’t say that because he is still small in size, but because he seems to be using only a very SMALL part of his brain! Did he not know better?

I am sure he did, because Jehoida placed the scrolls in those little hands of his to read with his little brain for “such a time as this”, but he was missing the accountability that God desires for each and every one of us.

I would venture to say PEER PRESSURE replaced the PERSISTENT PRESENCE of Jehoida’s wise godly counsel in this ear…

Do you think that King Joash was the only king with a “listening problem”?

Think back on the other kings that we have studied? Who “Had Their Ear” and how did it turn out for them?

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your comments. So, seriously, be brave and type in the little comment box…

I also want to ask you a serious question for reflection, “Who has YOUR ear”?