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Influencers

Thanks to social media there is a word we are hearing more and more: influencers. People who amass a large following online get paid to promote products, as companies have learned that people will purchase what their favorite trending celebrity tells them to buy. In recent election cycles politicians have paid influencers to rave about them to their followers. These influencers get paid to make people do something they probably would not have done on their own. 

But influencers have always been around, even if they weren’t paid for their influence. Human nature shows that some people are leaders and others are followers; leaders influence while followers follow the lead. We see a clear example of that in 2 Chronicles 23-24 with the unlikely king named Joash. 

His father died as a result of a battle wound, so the queen mother assumed the throne and murdered all the male relatives that could challenge her for the crown. But she missed one. Her grandson Joash was hidden away by the high priest for six years.

When Joash was seven, the priest Jehoida surprised the queen by anointing Joash as the rightful king, but because he was essentially a second grader, Jehoida called the shots while he mentored the new monarch. He was a positive influence on Joash: “And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the LORD’S people. Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces (23:16-17)…”

Joash was a godly king, leading the nation in a revival and return to God’s ways. But then Jehoida died, and we read, “Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols (24:17-18).”

Joash governed based on who he listened to. These people had powerful influence over the throne because Joash was a follower rather than a leader, and he was weak in his faith. He seemed righteous when he was influenced by a righteous man, but he quickly turned when idolators got his ear. 

There is nothing wrong with being a follower, as long as we follow the right people. Who is influencing you? We must make sure we do not allow ungodly people or powers to influence us in a negative way. 

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