Some thoughts about evaluations

Recently, I was once again studying the life of one of my favorite Bible characters and became intrigued by a little description that was given concerning his life. I had notice the expression many times (in fact, I even have a sermon which uses part of the expression as part of the title), but as I thought about the expression again, my mind went in a different direction than normal.

In Second Chronicles 34, as we read about the life of King Josiah of Judah, we find that in the second verse, the author gives an evaluative summary of the life of King Josiah. The content of that summary is simply, "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left."

Josiah did "that which was right in the sight of the LORD." This is the evaluation that the Chronicler makes of Josiah's life under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. While I have generally gone from that truth to consider what it means to do that which is right in God's sight, this time I thought about the evaluation itself.

If you were to take the time to read through the records of the various kings of Israel and Judah after the division of the kingdom as presented to us in God's Word, you will find that a similar evaluative statement is made repeatedly regarding the various kings. The pattern for such an evaluation is usually rather simple: "(King's name) was (age) when he began to reign . . . and he did that which was (right/evil) in the sight of the Lord." Following the summary evaluation, usually some additional details are given regarding the king and his reign, but it is the evaluation of the king that sticks out.

When God chose to evaluate the kings, He did not do it based on the external matters that often concern us - he instead evaluated the kings based on if they did right or evil in His eyes. While most of us would evaluate rulers based on things such as military strength, foreign policy expertise, economic stability, cultural advancement, God shows a higher concern - did this person do right in my sight.

When we evaluate our own lives or the lives of others - what qualifies as success to us? Is it financial well-being? Is it the importance of our job - or how high up the corporate ladder we stand? Do we evaluate the success of our lives by how many people follow us or what kind of special skill we might have? OR do we evaluate our lives based on the simple criteria established by God's Word - am I doing right in the sight of God?

What about the lives of our children? Are we most happy when they are getting good grades and scoring goals OR are we most pleased when we see them growing in Christ-likeness and doing right in God's eyes?

Perhaps it is time that we evaluate things from God's perspective. It is not the pocketbook, the position, or the popularity that determines success - it is a life of obedience to God.

Just my thoughts,

Frank