And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 1 Kings 15:11-12
Working in addiction medicine, I do prescribe medications that can help cut down on cravings for alcohol or a particular drug. The temptation for the patient then, is to think that recovery is as simple as taking a pill. There is no pill however, that can make someone be sober. Medication can help, but the patient must put in a tremendous amount of work. To get my patients thinking about this work, I almost always ask them this question – What would it take to cut drugs completely out of your life? If they’ve developed a pattern of behavior that revolves around using drugs, one little pill from me isn’t going to disrupt that pattern and when they wake up the next day and the drug is right there, they’re going to use. So, I ask, what would it take for them to wake up the next day and not have the drug right there? Certainly it means physically get rid of the drug. Maybe it means cutting their source out of their life. Maybe it means moving out of the house with all the friends who are using drugs. Whatever it is, it’s likely going to involve radical life change.
Radical change. That is the theme of today’s passage, which tells of King Asa, who came to rule over Judah at a time when idol worship was normal. Asa, we’re told, followed God and did what it took to cut idol worship out of his kingdom. He even removed his grandmother from her position as queen as she was a major instigator of idol worship. I’m sure it was disruptive and unpopular, but Asa physically cut idols out of his kingdom.
Often, we like to think that we can change, simply by flipping a switch in our brain and telling ourselves we’ll engage in different behavior. I’ll just start eating healthy. I’ll just stop looking at porn. If, however, we’ve gotten up every day for years to eat donuts, then tomorrow, if we have donuts in the house, we’re going to wake up and eat them. If we want to stop eating donuts, we must do what it takes to cut them out of our lives. If nothing changes, nothing changes. So, when we recognize that we need to change, we must ask ourselves what it would take to realize that change. Then, we must do it.