Finding Security in the New Year

Every year, OFB’s Tim Butler assembles a Twelve Days of Christmas booklet to help anyone interested in meditating on the miracle of Christmas over that season between December 25 and Epiphany. This year’s booklet is the Kings Before, looking at Old Testament kings and what they do to help us understand who Jesus is. Today is the Seventh Day of Christmas, and if you haven’t already been on this thirteen day adventure with us, you can begin it right here.

“Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?’ And Jehoshaphat replied, ‘I am like you, and my people are your people; we will join you in the war.’” — 1 Kings 18:3

Ahead of Christmas, I heard a lot of ads for a company that digitizes old photos and videos. The pitch was that all of our physical recordings can be lost or destroyed, but a digital version is a gift of security for a loved one’s memories.

We all want security and it is even good to seek it. Following in the footsteps of his father, King Jehoshaphat made many righteous decisions to protect the land entrusted to him.

He built up his kingdom’s defenses, standing for the true worship of God in opposition to his compromised northern neighbor, Israel. That Northern Kingdom may have been composed of the other tribes of the Chosen People, but idol worship had long taken hold.

At the same time, Jehoshaphat had limits. He never succeeded in completely purifying his own kingdom of false worship. Did self-recognition of this weakness lead him to follow the path of his father in seeking outside protection against external threats?

We aren’t told, but his choice is disturbing: he ultimately allied himself with the idolatrous Israel. Aligning with a completely detached outside group was bad during Asa’s reign, but Israel brought a toxic blend of idolatry and worship of the Lord. The half-true worship could far more easily seep into Judah.

Compromising as Jehoshaphat did backfired. He did the wrong homework: he looked at who was strong rather than who was faithful. He fell to the temptation for earthly security and it threatened his ability to lead well.

We wouldn’t trust treasured photos to just anyone. We would look up companies’ reviews to make sure they did everything possible to ensure the photos arrived and were transferred safely. And we shouldn’t trust our life’s security to just anyone either.

Jehoshaphat looked at the flashy ad, ignored the problems and found himself compromised. Thankfully, His descendant Jesus refused such compromises. Satan offered Him security for compromise and the Savior refused (Matthew 4:10). Instead, He faced the unimaginable — bearing our sin — in order to give us true, eternal security.

In Jesus, we find the One who can deliver and always does.

Prayer: Father, help us when we feel uncertain and decide that “small” compromises might get the “big” reward we want. Help us instead to trust our lives to the only one who can truly deliver us: your Son. It is in His name we pray. Amen.

You’ll find the complete booklet available for free here if you’d like to continue through the remaining days (and perhaps read the days already past thereafter).

Timothy R. Butler is Editor-in-Chief of Open for Business. He also serves as a pastor at Little Hills Church and FaithTree Christian Fellowship.