July 20, 2026

Asa was a great king who did so much good for Judah. He turned to God and cast out the idols and helped the people become righteous. He put his faith and trust in God and they were delivered and had victory in the sparse battle they had, for the Lord gave them peace. However, there is a small note that says when he was casting out the idols "but the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days." (Chronicles 15:17)

He had great intent, but he didn't abolish everything related to idolatry. He removed the idols, but left the high places where the worship had occurred. We don't know why he did that, but it reminds me of Saul destroying all the Amalekites except the best livestock. It's also akin to giving up most of our sin but keeping the favorite one.

Asa did much good, but in the end of His life, he started relying less on the Lord and more on the arm of flesh, turning to Syria for help with war and physicians for health instead of the Lord, who he had previously relied on the Lord and found victory.

Again, I wasn't there and don't know, but perhaps that failure to rid Judah of EVERYTHING idol related resulted in his eventual shift in trust. He remained a good, righteous king, but just as he removed idolatry but didn't fully remove everything associated with idolatry, he found himself in a place where he trusted in the Lord but just didn't trust Him first and foremost.

This is a great warning to us to FULLY turn to, and trust in, the Lord. Yes, we can consult the wisdom of man, but we must ultimately trust in the true wisdom of our omniscient God. Just as King Lamoni's father said, "I will give away ALL my sins to know thee", so we must do the same. Give Him everything.

2 Nephi 5

15 And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.

There are many reasons it is good to learn to do different things. One reason is that when we learn something, we can draw on the lessons we've learned in that topic to see parallels that point us towards Christ. Imagine, then, how impactful learning many things could be. If all things testify of our Creator (Alma 30:44), then coming to understand more can help depeen our understanding of our Savior and Father. The more things we learn, the more we have to pull from to better understand our Father and our Savior.