Readings for yesterday: 2 Kings 9-11, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12, 23
Readings for today: 2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24
Well, it happened. Missed my first day. I realized it when I woke up this morning. Here’s the really cool thing. Lightning didn’t strike me. God wasn’t up in heaven shaking his head. Turning his back. Giving me the silent treatment. No judgment. No condemnation. Just joy that I was back again today praying and reading and reflecting on His Word. I’ve been reading through the Bible in a year for over twenty years now and somewhere along the way I always get behind. No worries! The great thing about the Bible is you just pick up where you left off or if you get too far behind, you just skip ahead. And God always honors the time we put in.
As I read the passages for yesterday and today, I see the same tragic pattern emerging. The same pattern that’s been in place since the Fall. Cain and Abel. The state of the world just before the Flood. Tower of Babel. The time of the Judges. Left to her own devices, humanity inevitably descends into godlessness. Violence. Suffering. Pain. Jehu is called to be God’s hand of justice. He executes God’s will in a brutal, terrifying fashion. It is a harsh reminder of how seriously God takes our sin and serves as a foreshadowing of hell. By contrast, the rise of Joash reminds us God always claims a remnant for Himself. A faithful people who follow His will and provide hope for the nation. Joash lived most of his life in faithfulness and the result is peace and prosperity and security. He restored the Temple. He cleansed the land of idolatry. He led the people back to true worship of the Living God.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. We see this dynamic played out over and over again throughout the Scriptures. I love what it says in 2 Kings 13:23, “But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.” No matter how far humanity falls. No matter how bad things may get. No matter how much violence and suffering and pain may be taking place. God is faithful. God is true. God is steadfast. Immovable. He will not abandon us. He will not forsake His people. He loves us with an everlasting love. “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalms 30:5)