Today's Reading
2 Chronicles: the account in Chapter 20 is one of my favorite in the Old Testament. But I just noticed this verse in Chapter 19: "Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he went out among the people, traveling from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, encouraging the people to return to the Lord..." Without doubt, the victory in Chapter 20 came partly as a result of Jehoshaphat's faithful work earlier. We never know the long-term results of the work we do today. We are often encouraged, though, by seeing some of the results from work we did long ago.
Romans: this difficult message of God "choosing" still bears down on us in today's reading. Can we fully understand it? No! But today includes the attitude that we should have about it: gratitude. Our salvation is never something to be haughty about, but something to be humbly grateful for. Also, God's involvement doesn't give us a "pass" from telling others about Him. Our faithful sharing of the message is part of His plan.
Psalms: "The king trusts in the Lord." That's not only good for the king -- it's good for the whole nation.
Proverbs: I am deeply touched when someone makes a difficult commitment, then keeps it without wavering. In my experience, such people are rare.
And what do you see today?
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In the 2nd Chronicles passage, verse 29, it says that fear came upon all the kingdoms of other countries when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of ISRAEL. Does the term, "Israel" sometimes mean both Judah and Israel? Also, it interests me so much that not only Jehoshaphat, but other kings as well, went down in the history books as kings that did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet the high places were not removed and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers. Maybe the key there is that their hearts weren't set on God. Makes me think!
ReplyDeleteHey Ranelle,
ReplyDeleteYes, "Israel" at times reflected the whole nation and not just the norther kingdom. That was the name before they split and that is the name again today, now that they are an official nation again.
It's hard for me to completely understand the way they interacted with God, since they lived before the indwelling Holy Spirit. I believe, however, that they were prone to wander. Also, it seems to have been rare for the people to wholeheartedly seek God. Their national mood seemed to sway according to the spiritual consecration of their king.