2 Chronicles 14:1

 2 Chronicles 14:1 says, So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.  After Abijah died and was buried, Asa his son became king, and during his reign, it was quiet, or peaceful, in Judah for ten years.  When we become a follower of Christ, there should be a spiritual peace in our lives no matter what in happening in the world.  Verse two adds, And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God:  Asa did good in God's eyes, or obeyed God's commandments.  As Christians, we need to do what is good in the eyes of God, or obey His commandments, not to be saved, but to show that even though we have salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ that we still realize that we need to obey them.  They are still His laws.  Verse three continues, For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:  Asa destroyed all the places of worship of false gods and destroyed their images and even cut down groves where they were worshipped.  He did all he could to remove the physical presence of false God, but that didn't mean that the people of Judah completely gave up worshipping them.  We may remove all the physical things associated with the worship of false gods, but until people accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, they will still be worshipping them.  Verse four states, And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.  Asa commanded that the people of Judah seek the Lord of their fathers and obey His laws and commandments, but it doesn't work that way.  He might have gotten them to appear to do this, but the decision of whether to be obedient to God or not, which has to start with putting our faith in Jesus Christ, is the responsibility of each individual.  Outward compliance to God's commandments is not enough if He does not live in our hearts.  Verse five adds, Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.  He removed the images, or idols, and the high places, where people worshipped falsely, from the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom was quiet before him.  If we remove all the idols from our lives as Christians and worship only God, then we should live a peaceful life spiritually.  Verse six adds, And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest.  Though Asa built fenced cities and lived without war during this period, it was God that gave him peace.  We cannot rely on the things of this world to bring us peace but must rely on God for peace in the world.  Verse seven says, Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.  During this time, Asa said they should build cities with walls, towers, and gates, because God had given them rest, and they built and prospered.  God has given us spiritual rest if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior ad Lord, and we should be doing all we can to build His kingdom.  Verse eight adds, And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.  Asa had an army that totaled five hundred and eighty thousand men, but it was still God that brought peace to Judah and Asa himself.  No matter how big our army may be today, it will always be God Who brings us peace, spiritually if not physically.