Whose lead do we follow?

These passages kind of remind me of the Japanese political situation. 

I came to Japan in 1995, roughly 17 years ago, and in that time, we’ve gone through 11 prime ministers. 

Needless to say, we don’t exactly have strong leadership here in Japan.

Well, it wasn’t quite as bad in Israel, but it was close. 

In a period in which one king, Asa, ruled in Judah, you had 7 kings coming and going in Israel.

Until Ahab, only one of them, Baasha, managed to last as king 20 years. Most of the others lasted much less than that. 

One managed to hold the throne only 7 days. 

During that time, there were 2 assassinations and one suicide. 

But whatever differences these kings had, there was one thing they had in common: they all walked in the ways of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel after the split of the nation.

The result? 

One bad king after another, with Ahab being the worst of them all. 

Judah was only slightly better.  Asa served God for the first half of his life, and his son Jehoshaphat did so all his life, although he would make his share of mistakes. 

After that it was spotty with some good kings and some bad.

The question we need to ask is whose lead will we follow? 

The Israelite kings followed the lead of Jeroboam.  As a result, Israel went into a downward spiral that eventually led to their exile. 

Offhand, I can’t think of one Israelite king that could be considered good.

On the other hand, the kings of Judah would at times follow the sins of Rehoboam, but at other times would break themselves completely from them.  When they did, God would bless them.

The point is, we have a choice.  We don’t have to follow the lead of ungodly people. 

Sometimes, people grow up in broken families. 

We’re starting to see more and more of this in Japan, although it is by no means as bad as it is in the United States. 

And we see fathers (mothers too, but especially fathers) who leave terrible examples for their children. These children then often end up, most times unconsciously, following in their father’s footsteps. 

This is true in unfaithfulness to their marriage partner, as well as abuse and other domestic problems.

But just as some of the kings of Judah broke off from the sins of their fathers, so can we. 

We can’t do it on our own strength.  But if we turn to Jesus and let him transform us, he can take the broken parts of our lives and make us whole.

Whose lead will you follow?