Volunteered

“next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who volunteered for the Lord”  2 Chronicles 17:16

Volunteered – It’s wartime and the call goes out:  Enlist Now!  Volunteer to Fight for Your Freedom!  God’s army is the opposite of human military organizations.  God never drafts the foot soldiers, only the generals. 

God drafted Moses.  He was the reluctant general.  But God’s purposes put the burden of leadership on Moses and there was no negotiating.  God drafted Gideon, and Samson and David.  Jesus drafted the disciples and Paul.  Of course, generals can still disobey.  King Saul opted out.  Solomon turned away.  But the rest of us are asked to volunteer. 

This Hebrew word, nadav, emphasizes the free will, voluntary expression of the heart’s desire.  The actions described by this word are not compulsory.  They aren’t even expected.  They come from a deep desire to show thankfulness and devotion.  Not surprisingly, another form of this word describes God freely given gift to us.  God volunteers to redeem us.  He was never under any obligation to do a thing.

Amasiah volunteered himself and his men to the service of the Lord.  He was a commander in the army of his king, Jehoshaphat.  This is the only verse in the Bible that speaks about Amasiah.  This is all we know about him.  But this one verse tells us something incredibly important.  Amasiah volunteered for God.

If your entire life were to be reduced to a single verse in the Bible, what would you want the verse to say?  Amasiah’s verse shines in the dark as a beacon for God.  If we knew nothing more about his life, we would still know all we needed.  He freely chose to make God’s purposes his own.