You Don’t Want Asa's promise.

His covenant was fragile, yours is unbreakable.

2 Chronicles 15:2 is one of those scriptures that you might be tempted to seize and run with, without considering the implications of it. On the surface it looks good. Its context begins with a prophetic figure, Azariah, approaching King Asa carefully with what some of us may potentially see as a tremendous prophetic word, “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”

Brilliant promise for a rainy day? It’s almost like a spiritual special-offer transaction - seek God and He’ll bless you, neglect Him and He’ll walk away. It’s a sober, conditional prophecy that was spoken directly into the unique moment of Asa’s reign, under the Old Covenant, with all its blessings and curses tied to Israel’s national obedience; to what they said, did and did not do. That isn’t a promise written with your name on it. Think about 2 Chronicles 7:14 as well; great promise for ‘them’, but we have better promises.

Don’t misunderstand this, God hasn’t changed. He still desires His people to walk closely with Him. He still calls us to seek His face, but the way He relates to us under the New Covenant is very different. Chalk and cheese. The brilliant news is that our standing with Him isn’t fragile, hanging on whether we perform well enough this week, instead, it’s anchored in Christ’s finished, completed work.

You may very well be thinking about a New Testament variation such as James 4:8, which on the face of it seems to be carrying the same weight of promise and hope: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” At first glance, it almost echoes what Asa once heard from the prophet - as if that is where James got it from! Thankfully the gospel pulls the curtain back and shines light into it revealing to us that we don’t have it in us to just decide one day, “I’ll get close to God now, today, this afternoon…” Paul explains in Ephesians 2, “we were dead in our trespasses and sins.” Dead as a parrot. Not weak, not limping along - stone dead. Dead people don’t seek God, don’t respond to God, don’t draw near to God.

So how can James tell us to draw near? Because the first move, the great initiative, was God’s, not ours. He drew near to us in Christ. He broke into our graveyard and made us alive together with Him. By grace He turned our cold, dead, stone hearts into living ones, actually able to say yes. That’s the difference. We don’t draw near to earn His nearness. We draw near because He has already drawn near, and He won’t let go. And He is omnipotent.

Let me put this in plain sight. God isn’t standing at a distance waiting for you to muster up enough hunger, energy and motivation to crawl toward Him; even though you don’t know where He is. Instead, He has run out to meet you, like the father in Luke 15, and He has clothed you in Christ. He has put His Spirit in you, crying out, “Abba, Father.” That’s not the relationship Asa had. Not at all. That’s not the Old Covenant set-up of “if you do well, blessing; if you forsake, curse.” This here is full-blown adoption. Sons and daughters brought into the family for good.

And here’s where audacity parachutes in. The gospel doesn’t just say you can come relatively near. It commands you to come near boldly. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.” Confidence, not fear. Boldness, not trembling at the edge. Why? Because Jesus has opened the way. He always wants you near, not tolerating you at the edge of His camp, but pulling you into His very presence to enjoy Him forever.

Take James 4:8 seriously. Draw near, but do so knowing the foundation is secure. The King has already thrown open the door. He has already bent down to lift your face and embrace you. The nearness you enjoy now isn’t temporary, it isn’t shaky, it isn’t tied to your best attempt at faithfulness. It’s guaranteed by Christ, sealed by the Spirit, and desired by the Father.

2 Chronicles 15:2 was a conditional warning for Asa. James 4:8 is an invitation backed by the gospel, and behind it all stands a God who has already moved heaven and earth to bring you close. That’s not fragile. That’s forever.