1 Kings 15:11-14 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. and he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his father had made….and removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol. But the high places were not removed; nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.
This spiritual summary of Asa’s reign is typical of the several good kings of Judah. He did what was right by removing idolatry from the land because his heart was perfect with the Lord. Faith-full devotion to the Lord impelled him to do what was right, and live according to his faith. He destroyed the idols his father built, and he even burnt the idol his mother made. His faith was evident in his commitment to the Lord over against the wishes of his own family. “He who loves father or mother than Me is not worthy of Me,” Jesus says.
However, Asa actually did not go far enough, even though his heart was perfect. The high places were not removed. This was said of many of the good kings: they did a lot of good, but left some remnants of sin and unbelief. This note is similar to our own Christian life: we keep doing certain besetting sins, even though our heart is perfect with God through Jesus Christ. Some sins remain with us all our life long and we don’t remove some “high places.”
We are forgiven by grace and declared righteous by faith, but sin remains. It does so with every human until we die and lose this mortal body and gain a spiritual, resurrected body. Then we shall become as perfect as He is. Until then, we live with places in the heart where sin still rules. Therefore, we daily repent and believe.