What’s King Asa doing? No one’s attacking him. Everything’s peaceful, and this dude is building fortresses all over Judah. Well, there was trouble everywhere else. “All the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another” (2 Chron icles 15:5). Asa figured that it was only a matter of time before trouble came his way. Good thing he did get prepared, because when a huge army invaded, Asa was ready. He trusted God and won the battle.

Why do your parents lock the doors of your house if it’s never been broken into? Why do they set burglar alarms? Why do they lock the car doors? Come to think of it, why do you have a combination lock on your school locker or a chain on your bicycle wheel?

Okay, okay, so you know that you need a lock on your locker or your stuff will get stolen. And it’s a no-brainer that an unlocked bicycle disappears. Well, that’s the same reason your parents insist on safety stuff. That’s why your dad insists that you lock the doors. It may not seem like a big deal, but you’d be surprised at how much grief those kinds of things can save your family.

Don’t get sloppy with those details. Those “dumb details”—together with smart prayer—are what keep your family safe.

Ed Strauss, The 2:52 Ultimate Devo for Boys: 365 Devos to Make You Stronger, Smarter, Deeper, and Cooler (Grand Rapids, MI: Zonderkidz, 2010).

The writer of Hebrews said, “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity.” Hebrews 6:1 Many small group Bible study groups struggle because they do not do this—they do not move on beyond the elementary teachings.

This week it is How To Be Saved. Next week it is How To Be Sure You Are Saved. The next is How To Tell Someone Else How To Be Saved. The next is How To Be Forgiven and so on.

We study David and Goliath and Daniel in the Lion’s Den and the Life of Joseph and so forth—all good stuff—but if you have been attending for a while, you will get to feeling like you have heard this before.

This is why I am excited about one of our newest Bible Studies—a Study of the Life of Good King Asa. Asa was one of the exceptional kings of Judah and lived during a time of exceptional ungodliness. The contrast of his life with his background of ungodliness provides a fresh opportunity to live in today’s ungodly world. This Series is called Godly Living in an Ungodly World.

Sessions include:

Godly Living
2 Chronicles 14.1 - 8

Godly Dependence
2 Chronicles 14.9 - 15

Godly Courage
2 Chronicles 15.1 - 9

Godly Worship
2 Chronicles 15.10 - 19   44

“The eyes of the Lord range throughout…”
2 Chronicles 16

Good King Jehoshaphat (Asa’s Son)
2 Chronicles 17.1 – 11; 2 Chronicles 20

These lessons are available on Amazon, as well as a part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service. Like Netflix for Bible Lessons, one low subscription gives you access to all our lessons--thousands of them. For a medium-sized church, lessons are as little as $10 per teacher per year.