ple of obedience to
that command.

It is clear from the narrative, in the First Book of Kings, that Asa
was rich in noble qualities, such as manly resoluteness, political
sagacity, and administrative vigour. But special prominence is given
in the Bible (as one might expect) to his religious sincerity, for it
is emphatically said--"_Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his
days_." This does not mean that he was sinless, that he had reached
moral perfection, but that he had completely, with whole-heartedness,
given himself over to the will of God, to be and to do what He ordained.

The proof of this was seen in the reformation Asa daringly attempted.
This is the record of it--"_He took away the sodomites out of the land,
and removed all the idols that his father had made. And also Maachah
his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made
an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the
brook Kidron_."

Things must have gone badly in the kingdom before he ascended the
throne. Although it was only about twenty years since the death of
Solomon, irreligion and vice had corrupted the nation. The truth is
that evil spreads faster than good in this world, which is evidence
that it has fallen. We have embodied this truth in a familiar
proverb--"Ill weeds grow apace." If we neglect a garden, we are soon
confronted with weeds, not with flowers. Valuable fruit-trees grow
slowly, but a poisonous fungus will spring up in a night.

Evidence of this often appears in national affairs. A few months of
war will suffice to desolate many homes, to destroy fertile fields, and
to burn down prosperous villages, but it is long before that waste can
be repaired, confidence restored, and prosperity and goodwill
re-established. The devil will carry fire and sword through the world
with the swiftness of a whirlwind, but Jesus Christ patiently waits and
weeps over an irresponsive people, as he says, "_Ye will not come to Me
that ye might have life_."

The same contrast in the progress of good and evil appears in our own
experience. If we yield to evil, and indulge sinful passions, we move
so swiftly downward that it is hard to stop,--like an Alpine climber on
a snow-slope, who, having once slipped, in a few minutes' rush loses
all that he has gained by toilsome climbing, and becomes less able to
make new effort because of his wounds and bruises. Among our Lord's
disciples, we see Judas sw