Fully Committed to the Lord

"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (II Chronicles 16:9)

The description of being FULLY COMMITTED to the Lord is used only thrice in the whole Bible (NIV). All three uses are in connection with King Asa of Judah. In chapter 15 of II Chronicles (and chapter 15 of I Kings), we read about the first 35 years of King Asa's reign, when he was fully committed to the Lord. Chapter 16 of II Chronicles is about his later years, when he strayed from the Lord.

When Asa was fully committed to the Lord, he listened to the Lord's prophet, Azariah son of Oded. Listening to Azariah, Asa took courage and rid the country of all the detestable idols. Asa was so thorough in this task, that he even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. He was making a complete severance with sin and became dead to sin (Romans 6:11). Then he repaired the altar of the Lord and brought his people together to make sacrifices to the Lord. In worshipping the Lord, Asa and his people entered into a covenant that they would seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. They swore an oath to the Lord wholeheartedly and rejoiced in doing so. They sought the Lord and He was found by them. The country had peace for 35 years.

When Asa strayed from the Lord, he sought his own ways, rather than the Lord's (Isaiah 55:9). When Judah was invaded by Baasha king of Israel, Asa did not turn to the Lord, but chose to deal with it by a treaty with Ben-Hadad king of Aram. Asa did not remember that the Lord had delivered Judah from the invasion of a vast army of the Cushites (II Chronicles 14). When Hanani the seer came to rebuke the king, Asa was enraged and put the seer in prison. Later when Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet, he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. He ended up dying two years later.

As I seek the Lord, I must examine whether I am fully committed to Him. Full commitment in a marriage has two components: (1) I must not adulterate with any women other than my wife. (2) I must amorously love my wife and only her. Likewise, as Asa's life demonstated, full commitment to the Lord has two components: (1) I must repent of my sins and be dead to sin. (2) I must seek the Lord and love Him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).

Lord, I do love You. Help me be fully committed to You. Let me be truly dead to sin and alive to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.