Joel M Bradshaw

8“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods.–2 Chronicles 13

1. The kingdom of Israel was at war with their brothers in the kingdom of Judah.
2. Jeroboam was up north and Abijah (great-grandson of David) down south.
3. Abijah’s argument with Jeroboam was about perspective.
4. He accused Jeroboam of replacing God and the things of God.
5. This therefore gave Jeroboam courage that he could stand against God.
6. The reality is that selfishness and ungodliness can lead to earthly success and power. The temptation can be to minimize God or to replace Him in our hearts because life seemed to have worked out when someone did things their own way.
7. This is a heart check in moments of success. The two great pursuits are God and self. Does God get the glory or do you? Are you pursuing His kingdom or your own? Your goal is either the earthly “attaboy” or the heavenly “well done.”–JMB