Just Say The Word

“And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.” (2Ch 15:8 AV)

How refreshing it is to see when someone responds to the prophet of God after the first time he hears the word of God.  Asa didn’t wait for a second or third warning.  He didn’t wait for the LORD to begin the process of chastisement.  Asa didn’t wait for things to become so bad that he was forced to make a change.  The prophet came, explained to him what had happened to the north, then left it with him.  Asa immediately responded and reversed direction.  That is the way to live with the LORD!

Most of us learn from our lessons from the school of hard knocks.  We ignore wisdom until circumstances foist upon us a necessary response in the right direction.  We wait until our circumstances are unbearable and then decide it is better to change than to continue on the road of further trouble.  The wisdom of truth is not the primary motivating factor.  It is the consequences of ignoring it.  With Asa and the leaders of Judah, all they needed to do is hear the word of the LORD once and see what happened to others who went through similar situations.

Dogs can teach us a lot. For instance, going to the bathroom can and should be an exciting experience.  Or, it is ok to eat the same thing every day and be ok with it.  Or, laying around with absolutely nothing to do is the way of life.  Or, one does not need a bath every day and rolling around the grass is a perfectly acceptable method of covering body odor.  One thing I noticed about the dog that I currently own is he listens intently.  He is leash trained.  My last dog was too, but we needed a choke collar to reinforce instructions.  My current dog, no so much.  On word and stops.  One word and comes.  One word and he goes in the direction I want him to go.  No matter how focused he might be on a rabbit or other critter, it is one word that will shock him back into compliance to my wishes.  It is better that way.  All around.  How I wish I were sometimes like my dog!