1 Kings 15:9-15: a reflection

9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah. 10He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11Asa did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, as David his father did. 12He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. 14But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days. 15He brought into the LORD’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and utensils.

King Asa did what was right in the LORD's eyes, and his reforms were thorough and costly. He removed the idols his fathers had made, and did something that must have been especially hard: he removed his own mother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a detestable image, and he cut down and burned her idol. Faithfulness to God led Asa to confront idolatry even in his own family, even at the cost of dishonoring his own mother's position.

Notice how far Asa's faithfulness reached: into his own household, against his own mother. It would have been easy to overlook her idolatry, to let family loyalty or the awkwardness of confronting a parent stay his hand. But Asa's devotion to God took priority even over that; he dealt with the idolatry where he found it, even in his own family, even at personal cost. His heart, the passage says, was wholly true to the LORD.

That is a challenging example, because the compromises hardest to confront are often the ones closest to us. It is one thing to oppose sin at a distance; it is another to deal with it in our own family, among those we love, where loyalty and affection make us want to look away. Asa shows a devotion to God that would not exempt even his own mother. Without harshness, and in love, be willing to let faithfulness to God shape even your closest relationships, not tolerating in your own household what dishonors him for the sake of an easier peace. Asa's heart was wholly the LORD's; let yours be too, even where it costs you closest to home.

Lord, Asa's faithfulness to you reached even into his own family, so that he removed his mother from her position and destroyed the idol she had made, not letting family loyalty stay his devotion to you. Give me a heart wholly true to you like his. The compromises hardest to confront are often the ones closest to me, among those I love, where loyalty and affection make me want to look away. Help me, without harshness and in love, to let faithfulness to you shape even my closest relationships, not tolerating for the sake of an easier peace what dishonors you. Let my heart be wholly yours, even where it costs me closest to home.