In the book of 1 Kings, we meet a guy named Ahab. Maybe you've heard of him. Ahab was the king of Israel, and he was a wicked king. (1 Kings 16:30) He didn't follow God. In the 7 chapters that his story is recounted in, a few people come along and try to tell him to do the right thing. However, in 1 Kings 22, two men stand for God, and ask him to do the same.
1 Kings 22:5 "and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD."
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and he's asking Ahab to go to war with him. Ahab agrees without hesitation, but Jehoshaphat says, "hold on a second. Let's see what God says first."
Through the course of events, Micaiah the prophet is brought to Ahab.
1 Kings 22:14 "But Micaiah said, "as the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak."
Micaiah was being pressured to say what the king wanted to hear, just like all of the other "prophets" But Micaiah understood something. He didn't have to worry about what the other prophets thought. He didn't have to worry about what the king thought. Micaiah was only concerned with what the LORD thought of him.
He knew where God stood, and he wasn't moving from there.
Micaiah prophecies that Ahab will be killed in battle, and later in the chapter that happens. It's sad when you look at all of the opportunities that Ahab had to turn back to God, to live a different life, and to leave a different legacy.
Just like Ahab, we have voices in our lives. Some of them want to push us toward the world. They say the things that sound good, but aren't what God has. We need to learn to distinguish between the voices, and hear the voice of the God who leads us.
Be careful what voices you listen to. What are they leading you toward? Are they bringing you closer to God, or are they leading you farther into sin? Just like Ahab, a big part of the legacy that you leave is dependent upon the voices that you listen to.
