Choose Wisely

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

CHOOSE WISELY 

1 Kings 22:26-40

26 The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son 27 and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'" 28 Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" 29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." 32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, 33 the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him. 34 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." 35 All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. 36 As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town; everyone to his land!" 37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. 38 They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared. 39 As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 40 Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

NIV

Everyone has two choices in life, even those who are supposed to be the people of God, or God’s chosen people. Ahab had reigned for twenty-two years, but he choose to do evil in the sight of God. His wife, Jezebel had the man who owned that vineyard, killed just so Ahab could take possession of it. He heard the word of the LORD from the prophet Micaiah about the people having no master. That could be interpreted as Ahab would die, or that he had lead Israel away from God, their true LORD and Master. Even after Micaiah told Ahab that he would not return safely, he still went to war against the forces of Aram. This is the confidence of a prophet of God, one who is inspired, when he told Ahab that if he does return safely then the LORD had not spoken through him. One of the truths we should take note of is to always make the right choice, and the only way to do that is to have the right information. The only way to know what is right is to seek the counsel from the Lord. But that is not the real problem, as Ahab had the right information, as he sought the word of the LORD through a prophet, but then he ignored the word of the LORD and decided to follow his own choice and that cost him his life. Is that not the way of life for all believers? We can seek the counsel of our Lord, perhaps not through a prophet, but then maybe we could hear the word through someone, like a prophet, apostle, evangelist, or a pastor and teacher. They all are gifts to the church at large for the express reason to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the whole body of Christ may be built up until we all reach the unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God,  and becoming mature, meaning we are to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. We also have the Spirit dwelling within us, who speaks to our hearts, who gives us the counsel of God, if we listen.  However, even having all that advantage as a believer, we each must make a choice. Follow the word of the Lord, or follow our own decisions. It is right that we follow the advice of the Lord, follow His counsel it will lead us to life. If we choice our own counsel, we can be sure it will lead us away from life and onto death, just as it did for Ahab. Let us be able to hear the word of the Lord. Let us be about listening to the word of the Lord, and let us be those who choose to follow the word of the Lord. Let us choose wisely.