INTERESTING FACTS : THOMAS JEFFERSON, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; DIPLOMAT; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA; SECRETARY OF STATE; THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

 

"THE PRACTICE OF MORALITY BEING NECESSARY FOR THE WELL BEING OF SOCIETY, HE [GOD] HAS TAKEN CARE TO IMPRESS ITS PRECEPTS SO INDELIBLY ON OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SHALL NOT BE EFFACED BY THE SUBTLETIES OF OUR BRAIN. WE ALL AGREE IN THE OBLIGATION OF THE MORAL PRINCIPLES OF JESUS AND NOWHERE WILL THEY BE FOUND DELIVERED IN GREATER PURITY THAN IN HIS DISCOURSES."

 

"I AM A CHRISTIAN IN THE ONLY SENSE IN WHICH HE WISHED ANYONE TO BE: SINCERELY ATTACHED TO HIS DOCTRINES IN PREFERENCE TO ALL OTHERS."

 

DAILY READING : 2 CHRONICLES 21 - 24

 

TEXT : 2Chr 22:3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. 2Chr 23:21 And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

 

THEME : INFLUENCE

 

There is a German proverb that states - "When a dove begins to associate with crows its feathers remain white but its heart grows black." On the other hand, Benjamin Franklin once said - "He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity, will change the face of the world." Such is the power of influence. Thus, if there was any doubt that Athaliah, the daughter of  Ahab had a great effect on her husband Jehoram for the worse, such doubt is removed concerning their son Ahaziah who took his father's place as king of Judah.

 

A thoroughly wicked king as Jehoram his father, his chief counselor was his mother. The Scriptures state. "He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly." 2Chr 22:3 Neither Jehoram [Joram] or his son Ahaziah walked in the ways of Asa or Jehoshaphat. This, of course, was much to the detriment of Judah, for it brought judgment on the people of God.

 

"He also (like his father Joram, 2Ch_21:6) walked in the ways of the house of Ahab. This statement is accounted for by the clause: for his mother (a daughter of Ahab and the godless Jezebel) was his counsellor to do evil, i.e., led him to give himself up to the idolatry of the house of Ahab." [Keil and Delitzsch]

 

"His mother was his counsellor - Athaliah, the wicked daughter of a wicked parent, and the wicked spouse of an unprincipled king." [ Adam Clarke]

 

How powerful is influence! For better or worse, the people of God need to know the sway of the company they keep, the friends they make, their choice of husband or wife, as well the movies they watch and the books they read. All of these - people, information, and entertainment carry influence. Again, the word "influence," from the Latin means - "the capacity to have an effect on the character or behaviour of someone or something,  or the effect itself." [Latin influere, from in- ‘into' + fluere ‘to flow' - {OED}]

 

All of us are open to influence - good or bad, and we must think actively about what we are seeing, hearing, and feeling. As mentioned, the power of influence exceeds the power of authority. Thus, there is need for us to be cautious in our all our undertakings, associations, and relationships.

 

Ahaziah had many bad counselors, starting with his mother. Further, Ahaziah we may assume, loved his mother. We can apply that assumption to Jehoram as well. This, then demonstrates another aspect of influence. Namely, bad advice or ungodly counsel coming from someone we trust or love is the most insidious. Here is where influence is most dangerous. When our emotions override our intellect and intuition, we are in trouble. This means we will have something deposited in our thought life that may become a permanent part of us. In either case, whether temporary or permanent, influence will affect our behavior, decisions, and choices. Tennessee Williams, the American playwright said - "Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose."  Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist and philosopher went further saying - "We are our choices."

 

"The counsel of the ungodly ruins many young persons when they are setting out in the world. Ahaziah gave himself up to be led by evil men. Those who advise us to do wickedly, counsel us to our destruction; while they pretend to be friends, they are our worst enemies. See and dread the mischief of bad company. If not the infection, yet let the destruction be feared, Rev_18:4. We have here, a wicked woman endeavouring to destroy the house of David, and a good woman preserving it. No word of God shall fall to the ground. The whole truth of the prophecies that the Messiah was to come from David, and thereby the salvation of the world, appeared to be now hung upon the brittle thread of the life of a single infant, to destroy whom was the interest of the reigning power. But God had purposed, and vain were the efforts of earth and hell." [Matthew Henry]

 

TRUTH FOR TODAY : "IT IS EASIER TO START BEHAVING WRONGLY THAN TO CONTINUE DOING RIGHTLY!"

 

Most people know by experience that good habits are harder to form than bad ones. In addition, good habits in all areas of life are harder to start and maintain than evil or undesirable ones. Thus, influence helps or hinders us from the habits we form through choice.

 

Influence is illustrated by the story of an old princess who was taken in by the charms of a underhanded and devious baron. The story was told in the Prairie Overcomer, and read as follows.

 

For the last ten years Princess Elisa Carolina Casaretto Borghese has been a virtual prisoner in her own palatial residence in Genoa, Italy. Heiress to a million dollars, the 77-year-old Princess was mesmerized by a certain Baron Waldemar Von Hoyningenp-Huene, who along with an Italian woman, moved into the Princess' apartment. The Princess was forced to live miserably in a servant room adjoining the apartment, a small, dirty place without even an electric light. When neighbors began to notice the Princess's threadbare clothes and torn stockings and to hear her beg for a little money, they reported the matter to the police, who then uncovered the whole strange story. Said the Princess: "At first they moved into my home as friends, and then became strangers, and I didn't know how to get free." She gradually came to believe that she was poor and that she had to do whatever the baron said, but she couldn't explain why she felt so intimidated. "They gave me a drip-drip-drip feeling that nothing would last, that nothing would endure," the old woman sighed. Now back in her apartment, the old Princess is trying to begin life anew. "Now that I know they were evil, I can't stop wondering how they got control of me. It's been a nightmare, and now I am free."

 

The engaging phrase "drip-drip-drip," is most telling. It describes exactly how influence works. Rarely do people change overnight or all at once. Rather, it is through a continual dripping that good behavior is worn away so all that is left is a diminished form of what used to be bigger and better. This is known as attrition, and is something we must be wary of in this age. We must not be worn out, or worn away by wrong influences - people, books, magazines, movies, etc. Rather we must be diligent students of the Word of God. The Bible, and the Bible alone must dominate our minds. It is shaper that any sword, and will divide our thoughts so we can discern what is from God and what is not.

 

Heb_4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

"Piercing even to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; the like property Philo the Jew ascribes to the "Logos", or Word; he calls him τομευς, "a cutter", and says he cuts and divides all things, even all sensible things, yea, atoms, and things indivisible (o); the apostle seems here to have respect to the several names with which the soul of man is called by the Jews, נקש רוח ונשמה, "soul, spirit, and breath" (p); the latter of these, they say, dwells between the other two. Some by the soul understand the natural and unregenerate part in man, and by the spirit the renewed and regenerate part, which though sometimes are not so easily distinguished by men, yet they are by Christ; others think the soul designs the inferior faculties, the affections; and the spirit the superior ones, the mind and understanding; but the apostle's meaning seems to be this, that whereas the soul and spirit are invisible, and the joints and marrow are covered and hid; so sharp and quick sighted, and so penetrating is the divine Word, that it reaches the most secret and hidden things of men." [John Gill]

 

We should take note of what the Bible mentions about the death of Athaliah - "And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword." [2Chr 23:21] The Biblical principle instituted here is found in the Book of Proverbs.

 

"Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease." Pro_22:10 

 

"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul." Pro 22:24 - 25

 

The Bible speaks much of separation from sinful people. The people of God, the Church, must submit their minds only to Christ.

 

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2Co 10:5 

 

Casting down thoughts that are opposed to the Word of God is made more difficult however, if we are habitually in the presence of ungodly influences. We may say it is improbable if not impossible to bring the mind into submission to Christ unless the ungodly influence is removed as was the case in the death of Athaliah. Once she was gone, there was joy and peace.

 

Let us ask God for grace to help in this hour of need, for it is easier to start behaving wrongly than to continue doing rightly.