Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.
2 Chronicles 24:2 NIV
In the midst of life’s diverse challenges, there are choices we all must face. Some are difficult; others seem trivial. Yet one choice stands above the rest — wasting the grace of God upon your life. This is a danger the story of Joash, king of Judah, lays bare. His life is not a distant historical tale. It is a mirror God holds up to every person He has graciously preserved.
The Covenant That Kept a Line Going
Joash’s very existence was the fruit of God’s unbroken covenant. Before his birth, his grandfather Jehoram had led Judah into wickedness. The Lord found no pleasure in it. Yet 2 Chronicles 21:7 records something remarkable: the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. The reason was His covenant with David — a promise to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever. No one in that royal line deserved God’s protection. Indeed, their conduct had done everything to forfeit it. Yet God remained faithful to His word.
Judgment came upon Jehoram, and the Philistines attacked Judah. They carried off the king’s sons and plundered the palace. However, Ahaziah, the youngest son, survived (2 Chronicles 21:17). God preserved him — not because of merit, but because of His faithfulness.
Ahaziah then became king and followed the same wicked path. His mother encouraged him to act wickedly; consequently, his reign ended in ruin. After his death, Athaliah therefore seized power and set about destroying the entire royal family of Judah. She was thorough and ruthless. However, God moved once more. Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram, rescued Joash — the infant son of Ahaziah. She hid him in the temple under the care of Jehoiada the priest (2 Chronicles 22:10–11). Joash should have died. Instead, grace preserved him again.
Conditioned Obedience: A Heart Never Surrendered
Meanwhile, Joash grew up under Jehoiada’s guardianship. The priest guided him, protected him, and eventually restored the kingdom to him. 2 Chronicles 24:2 records this clearly. Joash did right in the eyes of the Lord for all the years of Jehoiada the priest. On the surface, this sounds admirable. Yet something vital remained absent beneath that compliance. His compliance grew from conditioning, not from a genuine love for God. He did right because the priest watched over him — not because he personally knew the Lord. A godly environment shaped him, but no personal encounter with God transformed his heart.
This, however, matters deeply. After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah came and paid Joash homage. He listened to them. They abandoned the temple and turned to idols (2 Chronicles 24:17–18). All those years of godly instruction had amounted to nothing. His behaviour changed the moment the priest’s watchful hand departed. Furthermore, when God sent prophets to call him back, he refused to hear them. Grace had shaped his outward life. But he had never truly embraced it inwardly.
There is, nevertheless, a sobering lesson here for every parent. Making children behave in church does not mean they know the Lord personally. A child can learn the language of faith and adopt the culture of the church. Yet that child may still have a heart far from God. The goal must be more than external compliance. Parents must seek to bring their children into a genuine, personal encounter with their Creator.
The Moment Wasting the Grace of God Becomes Irreversible
Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, stood before Joash and spoke God’s word against the king’s idolatry. He was the very man whose father had saved Joash’s life and raised him from childhood. Rather than receive the correction, Joash had him killed. Joash repaid a debt of grace with violence. Such a person receives grace but never truly owns it. They hear correction but refuse it. They silence truth rather than receive it.
Many people grow up in Christian homes, where godly hands watch over them and nurture them. Yet when the opportunity arises to exercise their own freedom, they choose something entirely different. Indeed, the years spent under that godly tutelage count for nothing. They let the grace of God slip through their fingers.
God preserved you when He could have permitted otherwise. He maintained a lamp for your life when darkness threatened to swallow it. Therefore, the question is not merely historical — are you wasting the grace of God upon your life? Every day of continued grace is an invitation. Now is the time to receive it fully. Do not take it for granted, and do not despise it.
Living It Out
Do not let the story of Joash become your own. Embrace the grace God has placed upon your life whilst there is still time. Judgment eventually comes. Now is the day to receive grace wholeheartedly — with a surrendered heart that truly knows Him.