Bible In 90 Days – Day 32
Reading: 2 Chronicles 7:11 – 2 Chronicles 23:15
Take Away(s):
- Conditional. 7:14. This is the well-known and oft quoted passage about countries humbling themselves before the Lord (in the US, it is a call to the values that our founders had). When taken in the context of the whole passage, it deals specifically with God choosing to dwell in the tabernacle that Solomon had built for Him and providing the conditions by which He (God) would remove the punishments deserved by His people for turning their back on Him. [EDITORIAL: Like many passages, we must be careful about saying “this directly applies to me/us/them” when read in the specific and contextual sense of the passage. That said, this passage (like so many of them in the Old and New Testaments) shows us God’s character and life lessons that can be gleaned by the actions or inaction of people in the Bible.] Specifically here, I pray that our nation, our culture, our churches,…me(!) will “get” the complete equation of this verse. For those of you who are Excel geeks, just had to do this: =IF(Israel=”Humility+prayer+seek_God+repentance”, Hear_forgive_heal, 0). HA!
- Proper Reliance. 16:7-9. In my bible, I have a note scribbled at these verses: “relying on self vs. God.” Here, Asa relies on himself rather than God (who he had previously). How easy it is to strike out on our own – even when we know that past successes were only possible through God’s providence. Verse 9 is pretty convicting too: notice that it doesn’t say “…to strengthen those whose outward actions or lofty intentions are fully committed to him.” God looks at my heart!
- Family Worship. 20:13. I love the specificity of this verse in describing who was before the Lord: “All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.” It wasn’t just about the king petitioning and worshiping God. It wasn’t just about the men. It was their entire family.
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