READING: 2 Chronicles 19-23
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: These chapters continue to outline the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, and they are filled with righteousness and evil, prayer and self-dependence, genuine worship and idolatry, faith and disobedience, victory and defeat, life and death. That is, they are filled with the reality of spiritual struggles, the pain of disobedience, and the blessing of obedience.
One summary text in these chapters causes me to reflect on my own life today. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was not a perfect king (2 Chron. 19:1-3 shows that he made alliances with evil kings of Israel), but he is still remembered as a king who sought God.
2 Chron. 19:3 However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have decided to seek God.
2 Chron. 20:3-4 Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah, who gathered to seek the Lord. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him.
Compare, then, the summary statements about Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah in 2 Chron. 20:32-33: He [Jehoshaphat] walked in the way of Asa his father; he did not turn away from it but did what was right in the Lord’s sight. However, the high places were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.
The king “did what was right in the Lord’s sight,” but the people did not fully follow. They had not fully directed their hearts to God. These verses call me to evaluate my own life with these questions:
- Do I always do what is right in the Lord’s eyes?
- Do I so faithfully follow God’s Word that I do not turn from it — at all?
- Or, are there times when I have not fully set my heart on God?
PRAYER: I want my heart to be fully set on God. Please pray that would be the case.
TOMORROW’S READING: Obadiah 1; Psalm 82-83