an indirect relationship

The Word for today:
2 Chronicles 25

King Joash is hard to figure.

He started out strong. During his reign, there was spiritual revival among the people. When he set out to repair the temple, the people gave enthusiastically to the rebuilding fund.

But then it all went bad. What happened? We find the first hint in this verse:
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. (2 Chronicles 24:2)

It seems that as long as Jehoiada was around, Joash stood with God. But Jehoiada wouldn't be around forever. When he died, Joash's relationship with God seemed to pass away as well:
But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. (2 Chronicles 24:15-18)

Joash's story should serve as a cautionary tale. The evidence is that he was religious when under the influence of another person. But he himself did not have a personal relationship with the Lord. His relationship was second-hand.

As long as Jehoiada was on the scene, he was fine. But when Jehoiada died, Joash's "faith" collapsed into idolatry.

That is why it is so important to have a direct, personal relationship to Jesus. No one is related to Jesus through his parents or his wife or his friend or his pastor--or through any other "Jehoiada."

Jesus Christ is the only intermediary between man and God (1). But there can be no intermediary between a man and Jesus.

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(1) 1 Timothy 2:5