Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Your Family Doesn't Define You | Historical Books | 1 Kings 15:9-24

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

Does our family history define us? How do you fight your idols? Why is worship important? In today's episode, Keith shares how 1 Kings 15:9-24 encourages us to fight the idols in our lives so that we might worship the true God. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Kings 15:9-24

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. No one expected much from King Edward the 6th. He was only nine years old when he became King of England. His father, King Henry VIII, had broken with the Pope, not out of deep faith convictions, but instead out of personal and political gain. Henry's spiritual life was a mess.

He had six wives, little integrity. He was not the kind of man who raised a faithful son. but Edward the sixth defied expectations during his short reign bibles were placed in every church sermons were preached weekly in english people were taught that they were justified by faith not works and when edward died at just 15 years old his final prayer was that god would defend his kingdom from false worship and preserve true religion in the land from a broken legacy god raised up a faithful reformer which is a good reminder your family story doesn't limit God's grace. You might come from a messy background. Maybe your parents didn't follow Jesus. Maybe your family has a legacy of addiction or pride or abuse or apathy. But that doesn't define your

future. With God, the past doesn't have a final word. He can bring beauty from brokenness and faithfulness from a fractured family tree. That's exactly what we see in First Kings chapter 15 with King Asa. Asa came from a long line of spiritual failures, his grandfather Rehboen split the kingdom into and led the people into idolatry. It says that his father Abidab, quote, walked in all the sins that his father did before him. Asa's mother, Maka, made an idol to the Asherah and the Canaanite fertility goddess. Nobody expected Asa to be any different from his family. But this we read in 1st Kings 15, verse 11, Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. I don't know about you, but that's what I want to be true of

life, I want to stand out in a faithless generation, not for being perfect because no one is perfect, but for being loyal to God. At the end of my life, I want to say I fought the good fight, I finished the race. I want to be known for worshipping the true God in a world full of fake ones. I want to die holy, don't you? So how could we become like King Asa? How can we live a life that's different than those before us or around us. What made Asa right in the eyes of the Lord? Well, it's simple. Asa was an idol hunter.

Asa didn't just tweak the system. He didn't go to church and try to be slightly better than his dad. He tore down the idols, literally and spiritually. In verse 12 tells us that Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. It says, quote, Asa put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his father had made. These were no small reforms.

These cult practices were normalized in Canaanite worship. They were sexualized and exploitative and spiritually corrupt. But Asa didn't tolerate them. He tore them down. And when it came to his own family, well, we pick up in verse 13. He also removed Maka his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asha. Asa cut down her image and burned it in the brook of Kidron.

Let that sink in for a moment. Asa demoted his own mother from power. That's bold. That cost him something, but it was also faithful. Asa knew that loyalty to God sometimes meant taking a loss somewhere else. Now, you might not have a shrine to Ashera in your backyard, but we all wrestle with idols. Tim Keller once said, An idol is anything more important to you than God.

Anything that absorbs your heart and your imagination other than God. Anything you seek to give you, what only God can give. where do you run for comfort what do you cling to for security what do you obsess over when you're anxious those things might be your real gods maybe it's success or your reputation your money maybe it's a relationship a secret habit and addiction that you've managed to hide instead of confess idols don't always look evil sometimes they just look like escape so how do we fight idolatry in our own lives how do we become like asa idol hunters well i think there's three steps first we name them to fight your idols you have to take an inventory where do you spend your time

your money your emotion what do you fear losing the most these are good questions that we need to ask of our own heart and just pray that god would give us insight into ourselves where do i turn when i'm anxious what am i unwilling to give up like what do i say god i will serve you as long as or if you what dominates my thoughts? Naming the idol is the first step because idols like to live in the dark. If you don't notice they're there, they'll tear your life apart without you even really realizing it, which is why we have to pay attention and name them and drag them into the light. The second thing we have to do is confess them.

Like after you've named the idols in your life, you need to confess them as sin to God and ask him to forgive you and cleanse you. You probably should confess this to. a trusted friend or a mentor, a pastor. Ask them to pray for you, ask them to hold you accountable. If you're willing, maybe you can say, do you see any idols, do you see any sins in my life that maybe I can't see right now? Then honestly assess your habits and make a plan for how you're going to change. Third, we have to worship the true God. The point isn't just to remove an idol. It's to replace it and to replace it not with another idol, but instead to replace it with God himself.

So instead of chasing approval, rest in the truth that God calls you his child, so you have his approval. Instead of chasing success, remember that Jesus wore a crown of thorns, and that the first will be last, and the last will be first, and those who are greatest among you should be called servants. Instead of chasing riches, worship the one who had nowhere to lay his head, live for eternal reward, not temporal reward. So again, fighting idols in your life is a three-step process. You have to name them. You have to confess them.

And you have to worship God. God, I pray that you would help us see the idols that we've allowed to grow in our life. Give us the courage to name them, the humility to confess them, and the love to worship you above all else. Well, Aza did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but he wasn't perfect. Later in life when threatened by the king of Israel, Asa didn't trust God. He made a treaty with a pagan king and paid him with silver and gold from the temple. And the truth is it worked, but it showed a heart that was drifting from God. Which of course is why we all need Jesus.

I mean, Asa was good, but Jesus is better. Jesus is the true and better Asa, because Jesus is the only king who didn't just tear down idols, he conquered them. And Jesus came from a family tree full of liars and prostitutes and idolaters and sinners. he never compromised. When Satan tempted him with power and popularity, Jesus replied, you shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him alone. Jesus stayed faithful, and then he laid down his life for idolaters like us. Titus 2 says, He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession. So maybe you come from a fractured family, Maybe you've let idols live too long in your heart.

Maybe you feel like a fake. But in Jesus, you're forgiven. In Jesus, you're washed. In Jesus, you can be made new. The Holy Spirit lives in you, helping you fight against sin. So you must now fight. Tear down the idol by naming it, confessing it, and worshiping the one true God. Because one day, the son of David, will return.

Jesus, the faithful king, will establish a throne that never ends. Let's be ready. Jesus, you are the faithful king. Thank you for rescuing idolaters like me. Fill me with your spirit. Help me see the idols that I've let live and grow in my life. Give me the strength to tear them down. I want to worship you, not just with my words, but with my whole life.

Amen.