Abijah

THEME: It's one thing to talk the talk, but walking the walk is another matter.

LESSON: What we do carries more weight that what we say.

KEY VERSE: "And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord" (2 Chr. 13:14).

VERSE TO REMEMBER: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Lk.6:46).

TRACK RECORD: Abijah, Rehoboam's son, became king in place of his father. Of note in his three-year reign was his encounter on the battlefield with Jeroboam. Before the battle began, Abijah tried to stave it off with words. "Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David" (2 Chr. 13:5,8).

Though Abijah sounded regal and like a true man of God, he was no more than a resounding gong, because he did not worship the Lord. Like many uncommitted Christians today, Abijah simply called upon God during a time of need. Meanwhile, as our key verse indicates, while Abijah was orating, Jeroboam's army surrounded him in an ambush. Eventually, the Lord gave Abijah the victory, but only to preserve the promise made to King David.

APPLICATION: It is not enough to merely call on the name of the Lord, we also must do as He says.

SPIRITUAL EPITAPH: "And he [Abijah] walked in all the sins of his father, which he dad done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father" (1 Ki. 15:3).