2 Chronicles 27

The Secret Of Strength

So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. 2 Chronicles 27:6 (AV).

The Books of Kings and Chronicles are bristling with the names of kings. In fact, when we have to get them up for a Sunday school examination, we sometimes wish that there weren't so many of them and that they weren't so muddly. There seem to be just about two kinds of them the ones that were out-and-out bad, and the ones who began well and ended badly But there is a third class, a very small one, of the ones who began well, and went on well, and ended well, and Jotham is one of them.

We don't know very much about him his history is summed up in a few verses but what we do know makes us wish to know more. We are told that he was the son of King Uzziah, that he was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and that he reigned sixteen years over Judah. We are told also that he was a great builder and that he fought successfully against the Ammonites. And then last of all we are let into the secret of his success “Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord.”

Now of course you all know that the prepared person is the strong person. Did you ever wonder why it is that bulbous plants like the snowdrop and the crocus and the daffodil flower so early, and how it is that they are able to grow flowers before they grow leaves? Most plants have to grow leaves before they grow flowers because it is through the leaves that they take in the food that makes them able to produce flowers. But how are the bulbous plants able to grow flowers first? It is because they are prepared. Months and months ago, away back in the summertime, they took in nourishment through their leaves and stored it away in their bulbs under the ground, and so when the first spring days came they were ready to burst into flower.

Now you know that most flowers are dependent on the bees and the butterflies to carry the pollen dust from one blossom to another, and these bulbous plants stand the best chance of being visited by the bees because they are first awake. They are already blossoming while many of the other little flowers are just beginning to stir under the ground.

And it is the same with us as it is with the flowers. The boys and girls who are prepared have the best chance. The boy who has prepared for his examination has a big pull over the one who has hardly opened a book. The boy who has practiced for the school sports is more likely to win than the one who has taken things easy and not bothered to get ready. You will do your best work and play your best play if you are prepared.

Now I think most boys and girls are quite ready to take some trouble about those things. If they are going in for an examination they have a good grind at their lessons. If they are going to run in a race, or play in a cricket or hockey match, they practice for weeks beforehand. But I want to ask you a question. Are you prepared for life? You have taken a lot of trouble about these smaller things. Are you taking any trouble about the biggest thing of all? You are setting out in life and it will not be just a joke or a picnic. It will be a pretty big battle sometimes. How are you equipped for it? The only sure preparation is to be prepared before God, to take God as your Friend and Guide as Jotham did, to give Him control of your heart and of your life.

People have tried setting out in life without God. It can be done; but do you know what has happened? Some of them have made shipwreck; some have become hard and embittered; and the best have never been at their best, because you can never be at your best without God.

“Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” We are told of two ways in which Jotham became mighty. First he was a great builder, and second he was a great conqueror.

Jotham was a great builder. He built a gate for the Temple and a wall on the Temple hill. He built cities in the mountains, and castles and towers in the forests. And if we prepare our ways before the Lord we shall be great builders too. We shall build up a beautiful strong character and a strong wall round it to keep out the enemy.

Jotham was a great conqueror. He overcame the foes of Judah. And we, too, if we prepare our ways before the Lord shall be great conquerors. We shall conquer the evil that is in ourselves, and we shall help to conquer the evil that is in the world.