Someone or something will be your King.
2 Chronicles 35 and 36 tell an interesting story. One king is replaced by another who is ruled by another, all foretold by the one and only true King, God Himself.
The story begins with Judah’s King Josiah going to war with Egypt’s King Neco without getting instructions from God, Israel’s true King. Why? He wanted to be his own king. This resulted in his death by Neco, who put Judah under tribute. This effectively made Neco king of Judah, who then made Jehoiakim “king” of Judah. Will Jehoiakim surrender and make God his king?
Nope. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, defeats Neco at the Battle of Carchemish (predicted in Jer. 46:1-12) who now becomes Judah’s king. Jehoiakim, like his dad, wants to be his own king and rebels against Nebuchadnezzar. This resulted in his being hauled off to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, who also guts the temple and installs Jehoiachin as “king.”
“King” Jehoiachin eventually wants to be his own king so he also makes the decision to rebel against King Nebuchadnezzar with the same results: he takes more stuff from the Temple and installs Zedekiah as “king.” What does Zedekiah do? He repeats this losing cycle of trying to be his own king. This led to Nebuchadnezzar getting rid of all “kings” in Judah by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple.
God, Israel’s true King, sent message after message to the Israelites – make me King and all this losing ends. They refused to listen.
Someone or something will be king of your life. The question is, who or what will that be – God, yourself, or your drug of choice? You can stop the losing cycle and experience victory by stop trying to be your own king! Choose to listen to and follow Jesus, not yourself or your drug, to victory through Spirit empowered faith choices.