Read 2 Chronicles 27

“He Did What Was Right in the Sight of the Lord”

Can a better compliment be paid than to say of a man, “He did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 27:2)? That is what the inspired Chronicler said of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. The same was said of his father up to a point, but in the case of Jotham we have no record of straying from the path. In fact, the Scriptures say, “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God” (2 Chronicles 27:6).

If we keep first things first, will we not succeed? If we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” does Jesus not promise that He will provide for our physical needs? Of course, that does not mean that a man should be lazy and not work to support his family and contribute to the work of spreading the gospel in his community! Seeking first God’s kingdom does not preclude one from working, but rather causes one to recognize that his ability to make a living is itself a blessing from God!

Jotham was blessed because he put first things first, and did not follow the poor example of his father; “he did not enter the temple of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 27:2), a clear reference to Uzziah’s presumptuous sin recorded in 2 Chronicles 26.

And yet, despite Jotham’s fidelity to God and the good example he set for others, “the people acted corruptly” (2 Chronicles 27:2). We learn in 2 Kings 15:35, “However the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.” Jotham set the proper example, but the people refused to follow.

Are we ever stubborn like the people of Judah? God has blessed His church with faithful elders; are we following them? Or do we gossip about them and complain about their decisions and wonder why they aren’t doing something or why they are doing so much and why they won’t just leave us alone? Is that the attitude we should have toward the overseers of the church?

“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct” (Hebrews 13:7). “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17).