Working for the Good of Others

Readings:
II Chronicles 10
Acts 20:1-18

Focus:
II Chronicles 13: "The king gave them a harsh answer; he rejected the advice which the elders had given him."

When Solomon's son Rehoboam becomes king, he has a chance to win the people's love by listening to them and governing them in a way that will make life easier for them. He consults the elders, and this is their advice.

But Rehoboam also consults his young friends, and they give him advice that apparently conforms to what he wants--that he will rule the people even more harshly, which will contribute to Rehoboam's image as a great and powerful absolute king. This is the advice that Rehoboam follows.

This does not turn out the way that Rehoboam wants. In fact, the people rebel against him, and most of Israel tears itself away and places itself under a different king. The kingdom stays divided until the exile to Babylon, centuries later.

It is a good reminder to me that when we seek what we think will be to our own advantage, it often turns out to be to our disadvantage instead. But when we seek the good of others, it turns back on us and becomes our good as well. That's the way it works in God's economy.