SOAP 2 Chronicles 10: The Danger of Abandoning Good Counsel

The Danger of Abandoning Good Counsel

2 Chronicles 10

But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.

2 Chronicles 10:8 ESV

This is the counsel that King Rehoboam rejected:

And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them, then they will be your servants forever.”

2 Chronicles 10:7 ESV

This advice does not seem so bad or so hard. It seems much more difficult to rule people with a heavy hand and “discipline them with scorpions (2 Chronicles 2:11) than to treat them with goodness.

I am not sure what young King Rehoboam was thinking, but it sounds like he succumbed to peer pressure. This bad advice was given by the men that he grew up with. The decision that King Rehoboam made to rule the Israelites with fear had long lasting repercussions. We read about the damage done in the last verse of this chapter:

So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

2 Chronicles 10:19

Whew, I wonder if he regretted that decision and at what point he regretted it. It is possible that as soon as he spoke his decision, he heard himself say it, and thought that it was a mistake. But, it was a decision that he did not think that he could take back. He would likely have looked like a very weak King if he was indecisive and changed his mind after such a decree.

And, as SOAPing is designed to apply God’s Word, specifically to my life, I started to think, as I read, about all the times I have made decisions I wish I could take back. There have been times when decisions came out of my mouth that I wish I changed right away. My stubbornness and fear of looking stupid has often felt in the way of changing to the better decision.

It sucks to be wrong. Yet, being wrong and changing to a better course is always the better decision. It is worth the moment of feeling foolish to have a different future.

Jesus has taught me through the years that it is better to quickly forgive, to quickly apologize, and to be willing to put aside my stubbornness to change a bad decision to seem “decisive”.

I want to be compelled to follow Jesus’ path for my life more than any other path. I want to be compelled to follow Jesus’ advice more than any other advisements in my life.

This means, for me, to listen to others, but to filter their advice with God’s truth. There is only one place that is absolute truth, and that place is God’s Word. All other things will pass away, but God’s truth, God’s Word will remain for eternity.

Where are your truths coming from today? Whose advice are you following? Who and what is directing your path?

Hard questions.

Perfection is not necessary. Doing our best to follow Jesus, everyday, making the sacrifices to grow with Jesus, everyday, finding the path towards God’s truth in our lives, everyday…this is what we can do. Jesus will grow us in all the right ways.

PRAYER: Jesus, thank You for Your truth. Thank You for showing it to us through this daily SOAPing. You do bring people into our lives that give good advice. Help us to see those people, help us to find those people. Show us Your path today and tomorrow and the next day. We need to see Your hand on our lives. Help us to feel Your presence and to share Your love with others as we experience our day. In Jesus’ Name.