Temporary Faithfulness: Lessons from the Life of King Joash (2 Chronicles 24)

“And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” (2 Chronicles 24:2)

One of the darkest moments in the Star Wars stories is when Anakin massacres the Jedi younglings and becomes Darth Vader. It’s a gut-wrenching moment. Recently, a dad even posted a video of his young daughter’s tearful reaction to Anakin’s turn to the dark side (which is kind of sad that a parent would make that public). But that story is fiction. The accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah contain true stories about the leaders of God’s people that are even darker and more disturbing. The story of Joash in 2 Chronicles 22-24 is one of those gut-wrenching stories.

Joash himself nearly didn’t make it past infancy. His grandmother, Athaliah (a daughter of Ahab), killed all of Joash’s siblings and many of his relatives. Joash only survived because his aunt Jehoshabeath hid him in a bedroom during the massacre. His aunt Jehoshabeath was married to Jehoiada the priest, and the couple took Joash in and hid him in the temple for six years.

Athaliah ruled over Judah for those six years and led the people into more idol-worship until Jehoiada and the priests took her down and installed seven-year-old Joash as king. Joash would reign over Judah for forty years.

It started out well. As long as he had the counsel of Jehoiada, Joash remained faithful to the Lord. He made sure the temple was repaired and the priests offered sacrifices to the Lord (2 Chron 24:4-14). Finally, Judah had a faithful king again!

Until he wasn’t. His faithfulness was temporary.

Jehoiada the priest enjoyed a long life, and died when he was 130 years old. The people respected him so much they buried him with the kings in Jerusalem—which was quite an honor.

But with Jehoiada gone, Joash turned to other advisors among his officials in Judah. They began to push Joash in a different direction, a dark direction, back into idol worship (24:17-18). He abandoned the Lord. Once passionate for the temple, Joash now neglected the temple.

In his mercy, God sent prophets to Joash and the people of Judah. But they didn’t listen. They wouldn’t return to the Lord. Finally, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, confronted God’s people and their king. He called out Joash for breaking God’s commandments.

Yet, here comes another gut-wrenching moment: Joash becomes like his grandmother. He betrays Zechariah and orders the people to stone him in the temple courtyard. Once Jehoiada had risked his life to hide Joash and install him as king. Now Joash orchestrates the murder of Jehoiada’s son. Joash had been rescued from death as an infant. Yet, as king, he killed the son of the woman who rescued him.

As a result of this evil, God sent the Syrians against Joash, and they plundered Jerusalem and leave Joash severely wounded. The king’s servants finish the job and assassinate Joash in his bed. Then, they bury him in Jerusalem, but not in the tombs of the kings.

So ends a story that had a hopeful beginning, a gut-wrenching turn, and a terrible ending. But several important lessons emerge from the account of Joash’s reign.

First, beware of following godly counsel without truly following God from the heart. Joash was an easily influenced king. While Jehoiada was alive, Joash acted faithfully, but his temporary faithfulness was tied to Jehoiada’s counsel more than to a genuine faith in the Lord. Once Jehoiada was gone, Joash’s faithfulness vanished quickly.

We need faithful teachers. We should seek out godly advice. But it is possible to follow good, biblical advice without following the Lord for ourselves. Lasting faithfulness to God stems from a genuine faith in our hearts, not just adherence to the advice of friends or ministry leaders.

Children must follow Christ for themselves. Church members themselves must obey God. So, follow the Lord and follow godly teachers who point you back to the Lord. Don’t always swim with the current. It may lead you into the dangerous rapids of idolatry.

Don’t settle for a temporary faithfulness.

Second, don’t coast on past faithfulness to reach the finish line. Joash started well and finished terribly. A good start doesn’t guarantee a good end. Joash needed to press on in faithfulness to God even when idolatry became easier after Jehoiada’s death. He failed, and his terrible ending wiped out his faithful beginning.

So, press on in your faith. Your faith five years ago or fifty years ago won’t necessarily carry you through the trials and temptations of today. We all need a growing, enduring faith to finish well. Never stop pursuing God and growing in godliness through his gracious work in us.

Finally, don’t miss the better Prophet, Priest, and King this story yearns for. Joash was a king who left a mixed legacy stained by idolatry, betrayal, and murder. He was not deemed worthy of burial with the other Davidic kings. But Jehoiada, the priest, was buried among the kings. His son, Zechariah, was also a prophet who was betrayed and killed by his own people.

Their lives point ahead to the true and better Prophet, Priest, and King–Jesus. He is the faithful Davidic King Joash failed to be. He is the better Prophet who declared the Word of God and was killed by his people. And he is our great high priest who offered his own blood as a sacrifice for sinners. Christ is the faithful Prophet, Priest, and King.

The story of Joash is just one of the dark chapters in the story of God’s people. Yet, God used the nation of Israel even with all its depravity and preserved them so that at the right time the true and better Prophet, Priest, and King might come. He too does not have a tomb with the Davidic kings because he conquered the tomb and reigns now in heaven until he comes again. He is forever faithful.

The Vastness of God’s Faithful Love (Psalm 108:3-4)

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” (Psalm 108:3-4)

One of the greatest feats of humanity has been reaching the clouds. We can fly. We can launch rockets to space. We’ve sent men to the moon and sent probes to the edge of our solar system. And yet we’ve barely scratched the surface of the vastness of just our tiny sliver in the universe.

Humanity has always wondered at the vastness of the heavens. We feel small compared to the vastness of the sky, not to mention the magnitude of space. The heavens are bigger than we can fathom.

So when David wanted to find some analogy for the vastness of God’s faithful love, he turned to the sky and the clouds. In Psalm 108:4, he declares that God’s love is higher than the heavens and his faithfulness reaches the clouds. In other words, the magnitude of God’s faithful love for us is greater than we can fathom. The best we can do is look out at the clouds or the vastness of space. Then we get a small glimpse of the immensity of God’s faithful love for his people.

Thus, we can no more reach the end of God’s love for us than we can explore the farthest reaches of space. We can no more search out every square inch of God’s love than any one person could physically explore every square inch of the earth’s atmosphere. Paul described Christ’s love for us as a love that “surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:19).

God shows us love vast as the heavens, beyond the magnitude of the sky, reaching beyond the farthest galaxies. And we taste of this love in Christ through his work of redemption. Here is a love beyond our comprehension, and we will spend all eternity exploring its vastness. This exploration should start now. We should pray with Paul that we would know more of the love of Christ that exceeds our comprehension.

As David sings in Psalm 108, the vastness of God’s love should lead us to worship. How can we respond to a faithful love that makes galaxies look small except with thanksgiving and praise? God’s love is to be marveled at and rejoiced in. We should stare often at its sheer magnitude so that our hearts might pour out the praises of our Creator and Redeemer.

Let us be careful that God’s love never becomes a stale cliche or a religious relic we mumble about on Sundays. Instead, let us pray together for the strength to comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love so that our hearts will truly resound with his praise (Eph 3:18-21).

This praise is not simply a personal or private practice. God’s faithful love should also spur us on to missions. David gives thanks and praises God among the peoples, among the nations. God has entrusted his people with the good news of his love revealed in Jesus. We should declare this good news to all nations. We should call all peoples to faith in God’s Son. And we should long to see all nations giving thanks and praising God because his love reaches beyond the heavens.

This week take some time to look up. Stare at the immensity of the sky, the sheer magnitude of the heavens. Let their vastness stir you to give glory to our God who made the sky, the clouds, and every galaxy. They declare God’s glory, including the glory of God’s faithful love for his people.

Spiders in Paradise (Genesis 1:24-25)

“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. . . . And God saw that it was good.“(Genesis 1:24-25)

Were there spiders in the Garden of Eden? Did Adam and Eve wake up in that unfallen world and ever see spiderwebs glistening with dew? Were arachnids crawling and spinning webs from the trees of that paradise?

Maybe the very suggestion of spiders in paradise gives you the creeps. We usually picture Eden teeming with birds, cute, fuzzy animals, and beautiful trees and flowers—but spiders? They must be part of the later curse on creation, right? I certainly wouldn’t want any of those eight-legged creepers in my paradise!

I can’t give a definitive answer to these questions. But Genesis does tell us that with the animal kingdom, God also created everything that creeps on the ground (Gen 1:24). According to Old Testament scholar Gordon Wenham, the Hebrew word for “creeping things” (remeś) “refers to mice, reptiles, insects, and any other little creatures that keep close to the ground.”[1] It’s a broad, general word that very well could include spiders too. And after creating the animals and these creeping things, God saw that it was good (Gen 1:25).

Thus, Genesis 1:24-25 points to the creation of insects and maybe even arachnids. God created bugs. And it was good. God created ants, crickets, worms, and all the rest, and they joined the song of creation, praising the Creator. Unlike today, they must have lived in perfect harmony with the trees and other plant life (no worrying about aphids damaging apple trees in that garden!). And if there were spiderwebs in Eden, they may have had a different purpose than they do now. Regardless, Genesis points to the existence of creeping, crawling things in the Garden, maybe even spiders.

When we admire God’s creation, we often focus on sunsets, stars, mountains, and waterfalls. We focus on the obvious, marvelous strokes God has painted on the canvas of this world. But the small details also declare his glory. As Seth Lewis reminds us, God’s creation “is a message. It is the art gallery of reality, speaking as loudly as possible in the language of colours, textures, ancient stones and living scenes.”[2]

Even today, in our fallen world, the creeping things relay a message from our Creator. The goodness of the original creation still echoes in this fallen world. Crickets and cicadas sing a melody that exalts the Creator. The ants instruct us in the wisdom of God. And yes, perhaps even spiders have something to contribute to the praise of God and the edification of God’s people.

These thoughts about spiders and “creeping things” started when I tried to take down some spiderwebs outside our church building with a leaf blower. With the blower at full strength, pointed directly at a large, intricate web, I could not blow it free. It was strong, resilient, and also beautiful.

The design of a spider’s web is surely not the result of random chance. It also hardly seems like a mere result of God’s judgment on this world. Like stars and waterfalls, spiders and their webs testify to the creativity of God. They point to his power and his beauty.

In the words of the well-known hymn: “This is my Father’s world: The birds their carols raise, The morning light, the lily white, Declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair.” Even in a spider’s web.

  1. Gordon Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary, 25.↩︎
  2. Seth Lewis, The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God, 25.↩︎

Waiting for Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:4-9)

My least favorite part of visiting the doctor is sitting in the waiting room (can I get an amen?). Maybe I am just impatient, but I like to be in-and-out when I see the doctor or the dentist. If I’m going to be told I have a cavity or need a prescription for a rash, I’d rather just get it over with. But there I am, sitting on an uncomfortable chair just listening for my name and piddling around on my phone. Waiting often feels annoying.

Yet, waiting is the posture of the Christian life. Read the Bible and the posture of waiting describes most of the people and times in the Old and New Testaments. Abraham waited quite a while for the promised son. David waited years to sit on the throne. Israel waited centuries for the coming of the Messiah.

In the New Testament, Paul writes that the Corinthians lack no gift as they “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:7). We live in a time of waiting. The next big event in God’s purposes for the world is the second coming of Jesus. We are waiting for his revealing, when God will reveal to the world that Jesus is Lord and every knee will have to bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord.

But this posture of waiting is not passive. We are not just dawdling around here on earth twiddling our thumbs waiting for Jesus. This is not a kick-back-and-take-a-nap kind of waiting.

We are called to an active kind of waiting. In Jesus, God’s grace enriches us with spiritual gifts (1 Cor 1:4-7). God intends that we use these gifts of speech and knowledge and service during this time of waiting. This is a get-to-work-while-you-wait kind of waiting.

God does not leave us destitute while we wait. He enriches us with all we need for actively serving Christ. He gives us gifts of speech for encouraging one another, edifying Christ’s people, and sharing the gospel with the lost. He gives us gifts of knowledge to know how to live for his glory in a dark, complex world. These gifts are evidence of God’s grace. They confirm that the good news of Jesus is working among us (v. 6).

But our God not only gives us these gifts, he sustains us while we wait. Waiting takes strength. On our own, we would botch this whole waiting business. The Corinthians were doing a pretty good job of that with all the conflict in their church, the sin they let slide, the pride they let fester. Yet, God’s grace promised to sustain them, and it will sustain us to the very end.

God is always faithful (1 Cor 1:9). He has called us into fellowship with Jesus, and he will strengthen us to the very end when Jesus returns and the waiting is over. His grace saves and sustains. His grace establishes us as blameless before him, and in Christ we can never lose this position and this future.

For now, we are waiting for the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we are not in a waiting room watching for someone to come and fetch us. As Jesus put it several times in the Gospels, we are servants with work to do, gifts and resources to steward (Matt 24:45–51; 25:14–30; Luke 16:1–13; 17:7–10). God has enriched us and equipped us to live for him while we wait. We wait for the return of our King by using what he has given us for the sake of his kingdom and glory.

Enjoying the Toil (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)

“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)

This week, our church basement flooded after we received 6-7 inches of rain in the course of a couple hours. The creek behind the church rose into the parking lot, ran down our basement stairwell, and put the entire basement two inches under water.

As we toiled with buckets in hand, one of the guys asked me: “Isn’t this the time for you to share some deep spiritual wisdom?” My response: “Well, I just read some of Ecclesiastes this morning!”

In both Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 and 3:12-14, Solomon declares that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their food, drink, and, yes, even their toil. There is satisfaction to be found in enjoying a well-made meal, a tasty cup of coffee (something even Solomon never got to enjoy!), and doing hard work–whether that is your nine-to-five job, a labor-intensive hobby, or bailing water out of a basement.

And yet, Solomon has also just remarked that when he looked at his toil under the sun, he hated it (Eccl 2:18)! Why? Because whatever he gained from it, he would eventually have to leave to someone else. He found this absurd, vanity, meaningless. Why work hard when whatever you gain doesn’t last or will be passed on to a fool?

If you look to work to get you things you think will make you happy, you will always be let down in the end. You will come to hate your toil. But if you look for the simple satisfaction of hard work done well, you will find a much better way to live under the sun. It is not always fun. But it is a gift from God (Eccl 3:13).

Life under the sun (i.e., life in this present fallen world) often seems absurd and meaningless. You replace carpet one week and a couple weeks later the basement floods again. You wash dishes only to dirty them again. The work doesn’t stop and sometimes it seems like it is for nothing. But when we take stock of our brief lives here on earth and remember what really matters, we can find enjoyment from God even in the toil.

Solomon also goes on to add that “whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him,” (Eccl 3:14). Our work will fade. Our greatest accomplishments and richest achievements will pass from memory. But God’s works last forever so that we might come to know and worship him.

We can enjoy the satisfaction of hard work done well even though we know our work won’t last because we know, worship, trust, and love the God whose works last forever.

Bad Theology Suffocates Love (1 Timothy 1:3-5)

Last week, a minor league baseball team forfeited a game because several players on the team refused to wear rainbow, “Pride” affirming jerseys. Several major league players also received backlash for displaying Bible verses on their baseball caps during a game marketed as a “LGBTQ Pride Night.” It is all too common for these kinds of stands to be labeled “unloving” in our society. And LGBTQ issues are just one example of this. Today if you contradict anyone’s beliefs, you risk being labeled a hater.

But the apostle Paul offers a different diagnosis. He writes to Timothy:

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:3-5)

According to Paul, Timothy risks undermining love in the church if he lets false teaching and sin continue unchecked. False doctrine suffocates love. But biblical doctrine revives love. Biblical doctrine leads us to the God who is Love and defines love and lavishes his love upon us in Jesus.

Paul wants Timothy to charge the church to teach only true, biblical doctrine for the sake of love. The goal (telos) of promoting good theology and confronting bad theology is love. To allow false doctrine to go unchecked in the church is profoundly unloving. It is unloving to let lies rage like wildfire among Christ’s people. It is unloving to ignore distortions of the gospel, distortions of God’s character, or distortions of God’s commands.

The standard of truth the church should promote is the “stewardship from God that is by faith.” This stewardship is the sound doctrine of Scripture that we receive by faith. Anything that rejects, denies, or distorts this stewardship will not end up on the path to love.

But when the church promotes biblical teaching, the church pursues love that has a solid foundation in purity of heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). Good theology promotes the purity of our hearts. We find cleansing in Christ, and God creates a clean heart in us as we believe the gospel. Biblical teaching also properly aligns our inner compass of right and wrong based on God’s standards. And sound doctrine fans our faith into flame by showing us the wonder of who God is and what he has done.

In contrast, bad theology muddies our hearts. It leads us to believe lies about God, the world, and other people. False teaching misaligns our inner sense of right and wrong. It also corrupts our faith and makes it looks fake, because it is man-made and not based on God’s truth. False doctrine shipwrecks our faith and drowns our love (1 Tim 1:19-20).

Therefore, if love is our telos, we will confront false doctrine and proclaim biblical truth without apology. Love should be our aim. Love should also influence our manner of proclaiming the truth. We don’t want to be jerks. We want people to see the beauty of the gospel and the beauty of living God’s way.

The most loving way to live is not ignoring sin and bad theology. The most loving way to live is graciously pointing people to God’s truth in Scripture as we live it out ourselves. Lord, help us to pursue this kind of love in the church by pressing into the sound doctrine of your Word.

It’s a Trap! The Fear of Man vs. Faith in God (Proverbs 29:25)

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

According to Proverbs 29:25, an alarm should sound off in our hearts every time we begin to make a decision based on the fear of what other people will do or think–it’s a trap. The fear of man is a trap. It’s a snare that we often walk into everyday.

What exactly is the fear of man? According to Duane Garrett, “The ‘fear of man’ describes any situation in which one is anxious about not offending another person.”[1] The fear of man is when the primary grid for how we live our lives is how people will respond to our words and actions. It leads us stay silent when a coworker cuts corners because we fear what might happen if we speak up. Or we do not confront sin in a friend because we are afraid of the repercussions. Or we do not share the gospel because we fear rejection. In other words, it leads us into a failure to do what is right because we fear the risk of making other people angry, hurt, and so on.

The fear of man is all over our world today. We are a society afraid of being offensive. We fear getting cancelled by the politically correct mob. At home, every decision can easily become about how we can make everybody happy. At work or school, we alter our behavior according to the people we are with. At church, we put on a mask because we don’t want people to find out what we’re really like.

But this is all a trap. We think acting this way will keep us safe. We think, “As long as we can keep everyone happy, everything will be okay.” But this is a lie. Living according to the fear of man will not keep us safe. We may avoid hard conversations. We may do our utmost to go with the flow and stay comfortable. We may earn a trophy for being the world’s #1 people pleaser. But in the end, we will not be safe.

We will live in constant worry. Our judgment about what is right will be clouded. Our courage will fail. And we will be held accountable by God (not people!) for how we lived. The fear of man is a trap.

True safety comes from trusting in the Lord and living according to his will. The person who trusts in Lord will be kept safe in the end because God’s ways are always best and God alone can give us true safety.

Therefore, the safest place for us is living by faith in what God says is good and right, not worrying about offending or angering other people. This doesn’t mean we never consider how our words or actions might make another person feel. It is clearly not wrong to want other people to be happy or feel loved! However, their will and desires are not always best. But God’s will is always best, even when it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.

This proverb also doesn’t mean bad things will never happen to us if we just trust God. Both Scripture and reality teach us otherwise. People will get angry with us. We may have relational conflict. But in the end, the safest place to live is always faith in what God says, not fear of how people will react.

  1.  Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 233. ↩︎

In Christ, You’re a Saint

“You’re a saint.” You’ve probably heard that phrase applied to someone who just did something really nice. Someone just agreed to help you clean up your shed this weekend, and you tell them, “Thank you so much! You’re a saint!” 

Even though this phrase may feel a little archaic, it captures one of the few ways we use the word saint today: someone who is extra holy or extra nice. Or we may think that a saint is a super godly person from the past, or maybe they are the older, super-spiritual men and women in the church.

But then here comes Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:2 where he opens his letter with these words:

“To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.” (CSB)

Paul opens this letter to a church filled with dysfunction (see for example 1 Cor 5), and he calls them saints. Paul does not address this letter just to the extra holy people in the church. He addresses the letter to the whole church and says they are called as saints. 

In 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul has just used a similar phrase for himself: “Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will” (CSB). Paul is called as an apostle. The Corinthian church is called as saints, God’s holy people. Even this dysfunctional church remains God’s holy people. They are called by God to be saints. 

The rest of verse 2 helps fill in what it means to be a saint:

Saints are those who call upon Jesus as Lord.

Paul writes that the Corinthians are called as saints along with everyone else who calls on Jesus’s Name. Everyone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation and submits to him as Lord is a saint. Becoming a saint isn’t something you earn by doing extra holy stuff. Becoming a saint is what happens when you call on the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue you. You have a new identity. 

Sainthood is a calling, not an achievement.

Paul also describes the Corinthians as “saints by calling”. God had called them to be saints. This doesn’t mean they were called to achieve sainthood anymore than Paul’s calling as an apostle meant he had to achieve his apostleship (he’ll let the Corinthians know he is an apostle only by the mercy of God, see 2 Cor 4:1). 

The calling here refers to the effectual call of God that calls us into fellowship with Christ (1 Cor 1:9). In 1 Corinthians 1:26-30, Paul connects the believer’s calling with God’s choosing (see also Jude 1; Rev 17:14). When they consider their calling, they will see that God has chosen what is weak and foolish to shame the strong and powerful of the world. We are saints only because we are chosen by the sovereign grace of God. We are called by God to be set apart as his people.

Both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are in view here. God calls us to be saints as we call on the Name of the Lord. God’s call always comes first (this is the biblical pattern; for example, think about Abraham who was called out by God before he called upon God, Gen 12:1-3; 13:4). Yet, saints also call upon the Name of the Lord. Saints are called by God as his holy ones who call upon Jesus’s Name. 

In this way, saints have a holy position before God because of Jesus.

A saint is a sanctified person. Paul refers here not to our progressive growth in Christ, but to our position before God. Positionally, everyone who is united to Jesus by faith is sanctified and set apart to God as a saint (a holy one). 

Therefore, a saint is a person who is set apart to God by merits of their union with Jesus. They are called to be saints because they are called into fellowship with Jesus (1 Cor 1:9). Every believer is a saint. Every believer belongs to the holy people of God. To be a saint means to be set apart to God because you belong to Jesus. This is now your identity in Christ. 

Therefore, Christian, you are a saint. You might recoil at that or laugh it off as just archaic language. But Paul used the term for the Corinthians (and other churches) to encourage them that they are God’s holy people and to motivate them to live out this new identity that they have in Jesus. 

Like the church in first-century Corinth, we are often pretty clunky at living this out. Yet even in our continued struggle with sin, we remain God’s people called to become what we already are—holy. In Jesus, we are saints. Let’s live like it by God’s grace. 

Are You Hungry for God’s Word?

This week I received an email with a profound question: what does it mean to be hungry for God’s Word and how can I feel this way? Most of us would agree that a hunger for the Bible is a healthy hunger. But what does this actually mean and how do we develop a deeper appetite for the Word of God? 

What Does It Mean to Have a Hunger for God’s Word?

A hunger for the Word of God is all about sensing our need for God’s truth. It is a longing to know God’s truth more so that it changes us. A hunger for God’s Word means we want God and his truth to shape how we live on a daily basis.

We see a hunger and a longing for God and his Word in the Bible itself, especially in Psalm 119. I’d encourage you to read the whole Psalm (it’s long but worth the read). Here are a few snippets that reveal a healthy hunger for God’s truth.

“My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.” (Psalm 119:20)

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)

Notice how the author of the Psalm longs for God’s rules (his truth, his Word), he loves it and thinks about it all the time, and he finds God’s words “sweet”. They are good and nourishing to his soul. He knows and feels his need for God’s truth. He longs to know more of the goodness and delight found in God’s truth.

Ultimately, a hunger for God’s Word is a hunger for God. God has spoken to us through the Bible, his Word. It is the primary way we come to know him as followers of Jesus. Thus, a hunger for God’s Word should be a hunger to know and love God more by dwelling on his truth conveyed in the Bible. 

We want him. And we want to love him more. And we want to live his way. So, we come to the Bible and read it with open hands ready to receive whatever God might give us to satisfy our souls.

How Do We Grow in Our Hunger for God’s Word?

The reality of the Christian life is that we may not always feel a hunger for God’s Word. Developing an appetite for the Word can take time, and it may ebb and flow. Our hunger for God’s truth will have high points and low points. There is no magic strategy to make yourself feel this hunger. It comes to us from God himself and often grows or shrinks depending on our daily habits.

So here are four practices for growing your appetite for God’s Word.

1. Pray and Ask God for a Deeper Hunger

The first step to growing in a hunger for God is by praying and asking God for a deeper hunger for his Word. Ask God: Help me to long to read the Bible and find it sweet and good and lovely. Help me to love your Word and think about it all the time. Give me a deep yearning for you and your truth. 

Confess to God that you don’t often feel this way: God, I don’t hunger for you and your truth as I should. Help me to develop a fiercer craving to read and live out your Word.

2. Take Small Steps to Encounter God’s Word Every Day

Then, take small steps to encounter God’s Word every day. Set aside a time every day to read a small portion of the Bible. And small can be key. If you aren’t reading the Bible on a regular basis, start with just a few verses or a chapter. 

Turn off distractions (i.e., put your phone in another room) and spend a few minutes reading. As you read, ask yourself what this teaches you about God or how it might point you to who Jesus is. 

Make a start to developing a greater desire for the Word by reading the Word daily. Our habits shape our appetites, so make a habit of being in the Bible everyday.

3. Chew on What You Read

As you read God’s Word make sure you are “chewing on it”. That’s what “meditation” on God’s Word means. Meditation is concentration on God’s truth for the good of your soul, to satisfy your soul with God’s nourishing truth. It’s simply taking time to slowly think about what God’s Word means. 

Once again, asking good questions is critical. Chew on the Word by asking what it teaches you about God, how it might call you to change your actions, how it encourages you to trust in Jesus, how it leads you to confess sin, and so on.

4. Read God’s Word in Community

Finally, read God’s Word in community with other believers. Make every effort to be in church regularly to hear the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. Find friends who can hold you accountable in reading God’s Word. Ask a friend to ask you once a week: What was something God taught you through his Word this week? 

God designed us to read and hear his Word with others. Our hunger will grow as we seek God’s truth with other followers of Jesus.

These thoughts are just a start, but I hope they get you thinking about what you are hungry for. Are you hungry for God and his Word? Or are you trying to fill the emptiness of your soul with entertainment, relationships, money, or something else? Only God can satisfy your soul through his Son, Jesus Christ. Getting hungry for God’s Word starts with repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus Christ alone to save us and satisfy us. 

Are you hungry for God’s truth? Confess the idolatry of your appetites, trust in Christ alone, and get in the Bible to grow your appetite for the sweetness of God’s truth. 

Technology, AI, and the Christian Life

When I think about technology and AI, my mind often wanders to a scene from the end of the film “Avengers: Infinity War”. In this scene, the villain Thanos has just turned half of the universe to dust. In a kind of vision, he approaches his adopted daughter Gamora (who he had to sacrifice earlier in the film) as a young girl. She asks him, “What did it cost?” Thanos responds, “Everything.”

It is a chilling scene that makes me wonder if in our pursuit of AI we are a little like Thanos chasing infinite power and knowledge, and it will cost us everything. That may be a little too apocalyptic, but it raises the issue of whether we really do count the cost when pursuing the wild dreams of new technologies.

As Christians, we need to be rooted in a biblical worldview about technology. The Bible may not give us a practical guide to AI, but it does give us a general understanding of what technology is and how we should use it. That is where we must start in considering how we approach AI as Christians.

What Is Technology and How Should We Use It?

Technology is a product of human beings living as image-bearers of God. Genesis 1:26-28 teaches that God created humanity in his image and gave humanity the task of exercising dominion over the earth. One way we image God, the Creator, is by making new things from his creation. This includes technology. Technology involves creating useful tools from God’s creation that help us carry out the callings God has given us.1

Therefore, the Bible begins with a positive outlook on technology. It is part of living as image-bearers of God who order and shape creation into useful tools that promote human flourishing. The goal of technology is the glory of God and the good of others. We shape tools that help us do the work God has given us and to make things that are useful for others.

Technology finds its roots in creation before humanity’s rebellion against God. It involves discovering the patterns God has wired into creation. Every man-made technology ultimately goes back to God, the Creator. Just as Isaiah reminds us that the farmer gets understanding from God to know how to farm, the designers of new technologies are discovering ways God has made things to work (Isaiah 28:26, 29).2

However, since humanity’s rebellion against our Creator, all technology is affected by the brokenness of this world. We use technology to hurt and harm others (think: Cain and Abel in Genesis 4). We use technology to enable our idols (think: the Golden Calf in Exodus 32). All technologies fade, cause headaches when they break, and can shape us in negative ways.

No technology is simply a neutral tool. All technology shapes us in certain ways. For example, the invention of the alphabet and reading shaped past cultures so that they were no longer strictly oral cultures. Thus, we should be intentional, patient, and wise in how we use technology. We should ask questions like, “How is this technology shaping me? Is it helping or hindering me from loving God and loving others?”.

Scripture is clear that whatever we do, we should do for the praise and glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). All that we do should be done in love (1 Cor 16:14). We should use technology in ways that honor God and show love to others. Scripture also calls us to walk in wisdom and holiness. Before we adopt new technologies, we should count the cost. This means that we consider how a technology might shape us and how we relate to God and others. We should avoid all uses of technology that push us toward sin and away from holiness.

Today, we live in a time of unprecedented growth in technology. Most of what we think of as technology today is digital technology. Screens are everywhere, from our pockets to our walls, in our cars and on our refrigerators. Technology today changes so quickly it is hard to stay on top of. Of course, the biggest strides in technology today come in the arena of AI (artificial intelligence).

What Is AI?

According to NASA, “Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems that can perform complex tasks normally done by human-reasoning, decision making, creating, etc.”3 It generally works through exposing systems to large amounts of data and applying algorithms to identify patterns and perform certain tasks (this is called “Machine Learning”). Instead of merely following rules, it uses lots of data to “learn” rules and notice patterns. For example, this might look like showing a system thousands of images of dogs so it can learn what a dog looks like.

AI has been a field that has interested scientists since at least the term was coined in the 1950s. With the increased speed of computers today and the wealth of information available on the internet, artificial intelligence has taken vast leaps forward in the past 20 years. Today, we live with AI assistants like Alexa and Siri and can type any question or draft any idea in ChatGPT. We can describe an image, and AI will produce it. Scientists are designing AI robots that can run half-marathons and perform other physical tasks.

We should understand that like most technologies today, AI is mainly being designed by those with a materialistic, evolutionary worldview that denies God and reduces humans to biological processes. In this worldview, our intelligence is a result of organic, chemical processes, and it can be replicated, replaced, or supplemented by AI. Some proponents of AI consider it the next step in human evolution and theorize that it might allow us to transcend our bodies. Others like Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) propose that intelligence will become simply another utility (like water and electricity) that we will purchase from companies like his.4

We should note this worldview and be careful of ways it can influence us as Christians. We should be careful about how AI itself can shape us and how we think about ourselves and others. As Christians, we need to remember that human beings are much more than the sum of our intelligence or physical capabilities. We are not fundamentally what we know or what we do. We are created in God’s image, body and soul, with inherent dignity and worth that no computer created by man could supplant.

The capabilities of AI will continue to grow. It will take over certain jobs and fields of work. But it will not change what it means to be human or our basic calling as followers of Jesus. We should consider how to use it and approach it in ways that glorify God and show love to our neighbors.

How Should We Approach AI as Followers of Jesus?

If we are using digital technology, we are all using AI in some form (e.g., from recommended videos on YouTube to Google searches to using Alexa to control your smart thermostat). Yet, as with all technology, we want to be intentional about our use of AI. As followers of Jesus, we should approach AI with wisdom, love for others, and a concern to live holy lives for God’s glory.

We can frame these three concerns into three questions. First, what is the cost of AI in my life? Second, does my use of AI help or hinder my love for others? Third, does my use of AI help or hinder living in holiness?

Wisdom

Wisdom asks more of AI than simply “how will this benefit me?“. The benefits of new technologies like AI are easy to see: I can ask Gemini to create a tailored workout plan for me in just a few minutes. That’s cool and helpful! But the costs of using new technologies are usually more hidden and harder to assess. As Neil Postman argues, technological change is ecological.5 Introduce a new technology, and it changes the entire ecosystem of a culture and your life. Wisdom discerns hidden costs to our “ecosystem” (what we lose, not just what we gain) and adjusts our use of technology accordingly.

AI technologies come with several hidden costs. Like many digital technologies, AI can play a role in eroding our ability to give something sustained thought. Why would we think through a problem, when we can ask ChatGPT? Why would we read a book when we can ask AI what we want to know? We become slowly reliant on our tools in a way that literally rewires our brains and erodes attention. For Christians, this matters because we are people of a book. We are called to read and meditate on God’s Word. AI might be able to give us quick answers to Bible questions, but it cannot give us the delight in God that arises from saturating our minds and hearts with his Word.

AI also forms us to value speed, efficiency, and ease. Yet, we forget that these things are not virtues. Gemini probably could have written this article better than I did. But that wouldn’t really help me in the long run (or you, either). It would be easier and faster, but I would lose the benefit of working through these issues myself. Life is about more than quick information and taking the easy road. Wisdom values knowledge that is bought by sweat and tears more than intelligence purchased for a small fee (or for nothing) from the AI “utility companies.” Patience and self-discipline are good in and of themselves. But AI changes the ecosystem of our lives in such a way that it can choke them out or hinder their growth.

Wisdom also recognizes how AI can lead us away from community and human connection and prioritize a self-centered experience. It may lead us away from asking others in our lives for help. We can simply ask our AI assistant. In the extreme, people have even developed disturbing intimate “relationships” with AI chatbots. But these kinds of connections are “artificial”. They lack the true connection that comes from a son asking his dad for help on a project. AI tempts us to just ask ChatGPT.

Love

Another question we must ask of our use of AI is whether it helps or hinders our love for God and others. In other words, is AI getting in the way of growing to be more like Jesus? The Bible is clear that our greatest calling in life is to love God with all that we are and all that we have and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

In our use of AI, we must strive to love God above all. We must be careful that we do not allow AI tools to become idols that lead us away from spending time in prayer or other spiritual disciplines. Since the Fall, humanity has turned to worship creation rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25). If we consistently turn to AI for answers before we turn to God in prayer, we are guilty of idol worship. Will we turn first to the all-knowing God who loves us or a digital AI assistant who is a creation of man? As we approach AI, we must use it as those who love God above all and refuse to turn our creations into idols.

AI should also be used in ways marked by love for others. We should refuse to use it in ways that harm or ignore people. Positively, AI may allow us to save a little time in certain menial tasks so we can focus on people in our lives. It might help us create positive content that may help or encourage others. Doctors have already been using it to help read scans and other reports more accurately in ways that have saved lives. If we are going to use AI, we need to dwell on this question for ourselves: how will this help or hinder my love for others in my life? We must refuse to use AI in ways that lead us to dehumanize or harm others.

Holiness

We also should consider whether certain uses of AI help us live in holiness or whether they push us to live in worldliness. Remember: God’s will for you is your holiness (1 Thess 4:3). We must not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of our mind in God’s truth (Rom 12:2). Therefore, we need to consider whether AI is helping or hindering our holiness and the renewal of our mind.

Using AI to write a paper for you and passing it off as your own is clearly an unholy use of AI. But also letting our minds become unduly saturated with AI-driven social media news feeds may quietly push us into worldliness. Social media algorithms give us what they “think” we want to see. This feeds our self-centeredness, creates echo chambers, and even hardens us to sin. As David Wells writes, “Worldliness is what makes sin look normal in any age and righteousness seem odd.”6 How much passes before our eyes on our screens that tries to make sin look normal?

We can use AI in ways that are holy and honor God. Using it with wisdom and love is a good start. If we are going to use AI, we better do so for the glory of God. We should recognize the costs and mitigate them as much as we can. We should be intentional about using AI instead of being purely reactive or using it mindlessly just because everyone else is.

Four Starting Points for Using AI

As we approach AI through the lens of wisdom, love, and holiness, here are four simple starting points for considering how we use AI.

  1. In everything, work hard for God’s glory and the good of others. Don’t use AI to avoid all hard mental work. Using AI for menial, mindless tasks is fine. It becomes more complicated when we’re asking it to do all the heavy lifting for us. There is satisfaction in hard work (mental and physical). Sitting around and having a machine do everything is an empty way to live. Give your all for God’s glory and out of love for the people around you.
  2. Don’t delegate your learning to a machine. Use AI to go deeper in your learning, not as a replacement for learning. If we delegate our learning to AI, we will lose something valuable. God made us to explore and to learn. Before consulting AI, take time to think through a problem, question, or biblical text for yourself or ask someone you trust. Resist the urge to look everything up all the time. Use AI to explore and learn, but don’t make it the end of your learning.
  3. Commit to reading books, especially the Bible. Don’t let AI keep you from slowly reading the best books. There is a reason God revealed himself in a book that contains many genres of literature. Reading (whether silent reading on your own or listening to a book) is the preeminent medium God has given us for experiencing truth and beauty. When everything becomes a conversation with an AI chatbot, we are missing out on something deeper and more satisfying. Our God is a God of words. He speaks. Don’t settle for AI summaries. Read the Bible prayerfully for yourself.
  4. Stay tethered to real community and in-person connection. AI isn’t a replacement for human relationships. Many people today are turning to AI for more than answers and information. They are looking for connection with something outside themselves. Connection with AI is a weak substitute for in-person community. So talk and engage with your family and your friends in real life. Commit to being an active member of your local church. Relationships with other humans are messy, but connection with AI can’t truly compete with them.

Conclusion

AI is here to stay. It isn’t going anywhere. We can be thankful for ways AI makes our lives easier or helps us streamline tedious tasks. But we must also count the cost. The ecosystem of our culture and our lives is changing in many ways. Yet our calling as followers of Jesus remains the same: we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we proclaim the good news of Jesus to the world, we love God and our neighbor, and we do all for the glory and praise of our Lord.

  1. Jason Thacker, The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (Zondervan, 2020), Kindle, 20.↩︎
  2. I owe this observation to Tony Reinkie, who writes, “God taught us how to build rockets and planes like he taught the ancient farmer to grow crops. In every human discovery we find the Creator’s instruction. God is our tutor, and he ordains every link in the chain of technological revolution.” Tony Reinke, God, Technology, and the Christian Life (Crossway, 2022), Kindle, 102.↩︎
  3. “What Is Artificial Intelligence?,” NASA, October 4, 2024, https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artificial-intelligence/↩︎
  4. Peco Gaskovski and Ruth Gaskovski, “The Sacred Triad: Where and Why to Resist,” School of the Unconformed (Substack), October 15, 2024, https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/the-sacred-triad-where-and-why-to.↩︎
  5. Neil Postman, “Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change” (speech, Denver, CO, March 28, 1998), https://student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs492/papers/neil-postman–five-things.html.↩︎
  6. David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Eerdmans, 1994), Kindle, 29.↩︎