Sunday, May 20, 2012

2 Chronicles 35-36

Daily Reading
Daily Thought

The heart of God is displayed in his son when Jesus said to a sinner, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). Judah repeated evil upon evil and was lost, but through the end, "the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place (2Chronicles 36:15). The Hebrew says literally, "God rose up early and sent messengers." God began his day thinking of his lost people.

I remember certain teachers, when explaining their criteria for grading, would challenge, "You have to really want an 'F' to receive an 'F' in my class." They would do everything they could to pass us, unless we truly wanted to fail. "But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy" (2Chronicles 36:16). God had sought to save the lost, but there are those who would not be found. Thus the Chronicles end. Almost.

If you stay in your seat through the closing credits of certain movies, at the very end there will be one additional scene, a glimpse of what's next, the sequel, there is more to come, all is not lost. The chronicler provided such a scene. Judah was headed to exile, a judgment of God, but God would remember his people. There is irony at the end, after the kings of Judah and Israel did evil repeatedly, leading to the fall of the kingdom, a foreign king, Cyrus of Persia, spoke the words that gave the Hebrews hope, rebuilt the house of Jerusalem, and paved the way to salvation in Jesus Christ. "The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up" (2Chronicles 36:23). These words are repeated in the next book, Ezra 1:2-3, and the story continues. 

Daily Prayer

My God, my Lord, and my Savior, I am so glad that You came uninvited into my life. You crashed my party and rescued me from myself, because I would have sought my own pleasure to my destruction. Instead, You saved me for You pleasure, which is life itself, a life everlasting and overflowing. 

May I ever find my joy in You. May I begin each day thinking of You, delighting in Your Word, following Your lead, living life to the full. You are good, a righteous King, a loving Lord, Almighty God. I worship You.

Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment