I read this with a bit of “It’s about time.” King after king: but the high places remained, and finally we have “He removed the high places.”
We talk a lot about “man after God’s own heart,” but here we’ve got, “he held fast to the Lord.” Sit with that a minute. Think about what that means: he held fast to the Lord.
No matter what happened, he held fast to the Lord. Assyria came and conquered the northern kingdom, and he held fast to the Lord. Assyria invaded Judah, and he held fast to the Lord. Everything looked bleak, terrifying, and he held fast to the Lord.
I mean, this is the language of clinging. He didn’t just turn to God when things got tough, he clung to God. Nothing was going to pull him away.
This is locked tight. This is fighting back. This is not to be shaken by tornadoes or rattled by earthquakes. This is security.
Do you hold fast to God? Or does your grip get loose when things get tough? When doubts crop up, do you dive deeper into your faith or do you start picking at the edges, taking a step or two back?
Because I guess there are two ways to test your faith: if you’ve built a home, your faith, and a storm rolls in, you can rest safely inside, proving it’s foundation and strength against the storm, or you can evacuate, watch from a distance, until it proves itself to you and it’s safe to return.
That’s a weak metaphor, but I hope it makes my point: do you hold fast to God, or do you keep a light hold, easy to release in case things go bad? Are you invested, sold out, or you hanging back, waiting to see how it goes?