And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:10)
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah and was one of only a handful of good kings. In fact, it says that Jehoshaphat walked in the ways of David and the Lord was with him. He sent out teachers of the law who went through all the cities of Judah teaching about God and the law. And what happened? Revival! Not only among the people of Judah but also in the neighboring kingdoms. When it says, “the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah,” I don’t think it means they were afraid. Instead, God was faithful to the teaching of his word and those who witnessed it understood that the God of Judah was alive and true.
What would happen if Christians today gave up entering political debate? What if we stayed out of the vitriolic arguments about abortion, homosexuality and the environment and instead devoted ourselves to teaching? I believe the ills we see in the world are a symptom of a spiritual condition and not the problem. The problem isn’t abortion. The problem is that people are so spiritually bankrupt that they think it is a right and not a wrong. So what if we stopped saying don’t have abortions and started saying do love God? Do love your neighbor. Do help the needy and victims of injustice. Then maybe the fear of the Lord will fall on our neighbors too.
Our do’s are so much more powerful than our don’ts.
