Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life — except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout Abijah's lifetime. As for the other events of Abijah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king.
1 Kings 15:1-8
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
If you study the generational progression in families, you’ll see two basic categories.
On one hand, you’ll see one generation after another stay the same over time…good or bad.
On the other hand, you’ll see one generation change from the one before it…and this can go either way as well. Either a new generation can be better than the one prior…with a transition from bad to good…or it will be worse than the generation prior…and go from good to bad.
In this passage from 1st Kings Chapter 15, we see where a new generation…a new king takes over the kingdom of Judah…a kingdom that had done nothing but sin under the evil leadership of his father Rehoboam.
So would Abijah continue the evil ways of his father? Or would he commit to doing good and restoring Judah to God’s favor?
Scripture gives us the answer.
For we read where Abijah “committed all the sins his father had done before him”. Nothing changed.
Why? What was the main obstacle to change happening?
Again, scripture gives us the answer.
For Abijah’s “heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been”.
You see it wasn’t as if Abijah didn’t have options. He could have just as easily chose to follow the ways of his forefather David…a man after God’s own heart…a man who had “done what was right in the eyes of the Lord” not failing to “keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life” with the exception of his actions involving “Uriah the Hittite”.
But Abijah didn’t choose to be like David…and he didn’t because his “heart was not fully devoted to the Lord”.
Friends, this is the starting point for any transformation inside any person. Their heart has to first turn toward the Lord…and not just partially lest allow sin to still have a place. No…the heart must be fully devoted in order for full change to take place.
Abijah chose to not devote his heart to God and thus sin continued to reign supreme in his heart and his kingdom.
Question: Are you in a place in life where you need to change and change for the better? Have you found yourself repeating the past mistakes of your past generations?
If so, then there is good news for you today. For change can begin to happen in your life immediately…suddenly…right this very moment.
All you have to do is choose to fully devote your heart to the Lord…and then stay fully devoted for the rest of your life.
If you do that, you will change…trust me…and become an instrument of the Lord’s will, exhibiting righteousness, holiness and, most of all, love in everything you do.
And that’s the kind of person God expects us to be.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
http://www.faithhopeandlove.info/
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment