What I Read Today - 2 Chronicles 24

I don't always have something to say about what I'm reading, but this is a first stab at gathering some of my thoughts . . .

When you start reading 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, one of the first things you realize is that the kings who followed David and Solomon in Israel and Judah were pretty hit-and-miss. There are a lot of kings who did not walk in the ways of David and who paid dearly for it. The sad thing is that even the ones who did follow God were very flawed too.

In the previous chapter, we read about Jehoiada the priest's dramatic power play, inserting Joash as the new king of Judah and deposing the evil Queen Athaliah.

In Chapter 24, we see that Joash reigned for 40 years (good sign) and that he did what was pleasing in God's sight (another good sign). Then comes the kicker - "throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest" (Verse 2). Joash's devotion to God was only as strong as Jehoiada's.

Joash did a lot of good things as the king--following God for many years, spearheading the rebuilding of the Temple. But when Jehoiada died, it all went out the window. All of the reforms gone, the idols brought back, even the murder of Jehoiada's son, the only one who stood up and called out Joash for his backsliding.

The irony is that when Joash died, he was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal cemetary. Meanwhile, Jehoiada (the one who apparently was the power behind the throne all those years) was buried among the kings.

Is my faith my own, or have I been riding the coattails of my parents all these years? Am I teaching my children to have their own faith, or are they just coasting along on my shoulders? And what am I doing to strengthen my walk, my faith, now?