Some closing thoughts on 2 Chronicles

As I wrapped up reading through 2 Chronicles over the last 6 weeks, I came away with a couple of overall thoughts:

1. There are consequences to our actions. When the people of Judah had good kings who encouraged the people to follow God, the nation and the people prospered. When the kings were evil and led the people away from God, they were often attacked and conquered by the surrounding countries. Although the consequences for our actions may not always be seen immediately, we do reap what we sow.

2. God is faithful. Even when the people rebelled against Him, God was faithful to keep His covenant promises. He insured that Judah would continue to exist as a people because He had promised that the Messiah would come from the line of David. Man can never overcome God's plans and promises.

Read More

Listening to God

In reading 2 Chronicles 18, I was struck by how Ahab refused to listen to the voice of God because he was so set on doing what he wanted to do instead of what God wanted him to do. And as a result, he lost his life.

We are prone to do the very same thing. It's so easy to get caught up in all our own plans that we either fail to seek God's guidance or we refuse to follow it even when God makes it very plain to us. And even though it might not cost us our physical life, at least not as quickly as it do for Ahab, it does rob us of the joy of living according to God's plans.

So I'm praying for myself, and for all of you, that we would be attentive to God's voice and that we would heed what we hear.

Read More

Finally, a new post...

Obviously I haven't posted for a while. Just got out of the habit.

For the last couple of months, those of you who have been on the 4 year reading plan with me have been reading primarily in 1 and 2 Chronicles. I'll have to admit that all the genealogies at the beginning weren't all that exciting, but going through the history of Israel again through the eyes of the author of Chronicles is a sobering reminder of what happens when we choose to rebel against God. Even though God continues to love us and even disciplines us with the purpose of getting us to repent and return to him, there are serious consequences to our rebellion.

It seems that this passage is particularly relevant to us as a nation today:

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.(2 Chronicles 7:13-14 ESV)

I really believe that we are witnessing God's judgment on our nation because of the blatant, unrepentant sin that we see in our culture. But this passage reminds us that our responsibility is not to judge, but to pray...and to tell others about Jesus.

Read More