Asa

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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It is remarkable, as far as I am aware, no mention of Asa’s mother is given, but instead his grandmother is spoken about. True she is referred to as “mother” (1 Kings 15:1010And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. (1 Kings 15:10)), but the margin points out that actually she was the grandmother. And this is a little word of warning, and encouragement, to the grandmothers. They also have an influence: an influence for good or for evil, on the young lives with which they are brought in contact. May God help us, who have reached this period of our lives when we are grandparents, to show the very best example to those dear little ones, for whose sake these pages have been prepared.
But it is sad to relate that Asa’s grandmother did not set him a good example. Instead we find her making an idol in a grove. Her brave young grandson removed her, for this sin, from being queen, and destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron (1 Kings 15:1313And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. (1 Kings 15:13)). What a joy to God’s heart must this act have been, and we read the Divine comment on this king, “Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.” (1 Kings 15:1414But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. (1 Kings 15:14)). How one envies such a record; what a contrast to that of his father in verse 3, “his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God.”
And yet, in his old age, even Asa “was diseased in his feet.” I suppose the lesson here is for us who are getting old. With diseased feet, one cannot walk right. “He will keep the feet of His saints”. (1 Sam. 2:99He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. (1 Samuel 2:9)). May He keep our feet healthy and clean even to old age.