When we travel by air, there are security measures we must adhere to. Our carry-on can be only so large. Our luggage has weight limits. Certain items are not allowed onboard the airplane.
To ensure compliance, the airline has us empty our pockets, and they force us to discard that which does not fit within their guidelines. If we refuse, we risk penalties that might include fines, lawsuits, and possible grounding of our flight.
In 2 Kings 12:1-3 Joash was poised to become ruler over the southern kingdom of Judah. As a child his siblings had been killed, and Joash survived only because he was hidden away in the temple for six years.
Jehoiada the priest become a father to the boy, and it was his job to see that Joash did not bring any excess baggage to the throne with him. However, there was one pocket the priest could never get Joash to empty.
As long as Jehoiada lived, Joash followed God’s instructions. He collected money from the people to repair the temple, and when the temple priests spent the money inappropriately, the king called them to account for their misdeeds.
Joash ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. However, not even Jehoiada was able to convince the young king to remove the high places where people sacrificed and burned incense.
Joash’s refusal to remove the high places was the pocket he refused to empty, and when Jehoiada died, Joash was pulled away from following God. The kingdom fell into such disarray that we read in 2 Kings 12:20 where Joash died when his servants rebelled against him and killed him.
When we board God’s airline, we must be willing to empty all our pockets for him. If we hold anything back, then we have compromised our journey, and what we’ve held dear will get in the way of what the Lord wants us to accomplish for his kingdom.
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Code: FGO.G.4.13a.vp
Originally Published: 09-09-13 in Discipleship