II Chronicles 22:3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly
There was a recently a story about a hiker or climber outside of Aspen, Colorado who fell and was tragically killed. I was reminded of the beautiful but sometimes savage terrain around Aspen, Colorado. When I hiked near Aspen in the mountains below the Maroon Bells several years ago, a man had just been killed doing some technical climbing there. I have read a book titled Death in the Canyon. What a cheery title! It is about all the recorded deaths that have happened in the Grand Canyon from hundreds of years ago up until the time of publication. Oftentimes people die just because they misstep. They were taking a selfie or photo and didn’t pay attention. They did not give regard to the edge nor the height.
This past weekend my dad and mom-in-law graciously took my wife and I on a train trip in eastern Tennessee. There were parts that were up on a cliff. It would have been frightening to me, but I had done a similar trip before in Alaska. Thankfully, the Tennessee trip was not as steep as Alaska had been. Nevertheless, when we got to the exposed parts of the railroad track, I kind of hugged the wall on the opposite side of the train because I have a natural aversion to that kind of slide.
In your life, you will slide in the direction you lean. That is why I don’t lean toward the cliff. That is why if I am on a mountain, I hug the inside. I remember years ago hiking Grand Canyon with my wife. We were down on the Devil’s Corkscrew, below the gardens almost on the fine sand toward the river. We came across a tarantula. My wife almost jumped over the edge and I almost bonked my head on a rock because I jumped toward the inside. Why? It was because I wanted to stay away from the edge. You will slide in the direction you lean.
I realize slippery slope is the name of a logical fallacy, but slippery slope notwithstanding, there is no doubt that you fall the way you lean. So, which way are you leaning? What counsel are you leaning into? II Chronicles 22 talks about King Ahaziah. Verses 3-5 say, “He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab [a wicked predecessor]: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his fathers to his destruction. He walked also after their counsel.” Here is a king who slid into destruction because he was leaning in the wrong direction.
What counsel are you leaning into today? Lean into God’s Word. When I went on this trip with my in-laws and wife, I had an overnight bag packed. Part of that packing was a massive Bible that I read each day. I call it my fifty-pounder. The reason I packed that Bible is because I wanted to be able to read it deliberately. You can read on your iPhone, and perhaps on occasion that can be helpful, but if I am going to lean into God’s Word, I want to be able to underline, reread, and find the text on the same side of the page every time. I want to mentally grasp what God is trying to communicate to me.
Are you leaning into God’s Word today? Oftentimes in the Old Testament you find phrases like “according to the commandment of Moses.” That is God’s authority through Moses for Israel and by application for our lives. When you find God’s prophet speaking to a king or another such person, you may see the phrase “the word of the LORD came.” That is God’s Word or truth for people’s guidance.
What counsel are you leaning into today? Lean into God’s Word. If you are in the mountains, don’t lean into the slide. If you are in the canyon, don’t lean toward the void. If you are on a train, don’t lean toward the open window over the cliff. If you are in life, don’t lean toward counsel that will lean you the wrong way. Lean into God’s Word.
Also, lean into wise friends. It wasn’t just the absence of God’s Word that hindered Ahaziah, it was the presence of counselors. Even kings need guidance. He listened to the wrong friends. Proverbs 24:6 says, “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Other parts of the Proverbs indicate when you have wise counselors, then you have safety. So, lean into God’s Word and wise voices.
In short, lean into healthy, godly voices. This is the culmination of a string of stories. He had bad advisors. Why? If you look back at II Chronicles 21:6 you find his father “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which as evil in the eyes of the LORD.” Here was a king who had a good father, yet he married a bad wife and that made the difference.
Second Chronicles 18:1 says “Now Jehoshaphat [a good king]…joined affinity with Ahab [a bad king].” The prophet came to him in consequence and said, “Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?” So, a good heart is no match for bad guidance. Someone says, “He has a good heart.” His heart doesn’t matter if he is listening and leaning into voices that cannot guide. Today, whatever your need, you will slide in the direction that you lean. So, lean into God’s Word, wise friends, and healthy, godly voices today.