- And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin. 2 Chronicles 11:12 – He held them. Two of the twelve tribes he held secure. When given to him was all twelve and the kingdom like none other. One full of wealth and glory, one blessed by God, now all the king had was a small fraction of all that, one he was able to simply hold secure. All this because the king chose his way rather than the path God had laid out for him. Sure we see him a little later on in the passage walking after God for a short period, but we’ll even see that won’t last. His heart wasn’t after God. When we read passages like these my hope is that you see the value of having a good pursuit of God in your life and the lack that follows a pursuit of anything else. David and Solomon put God first and the result was indescribable. In a few chapters ago it said that even a queen was left breathless after seeing how God had blessed them. While that level of wealth isn’t the way God blesses everyone, He does overflow those who follow Him with the blessings they need. My prayer for you is that your story isn’t one of just clinching tightly to your things holding them secure but one of overflow that leaves others breathless. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1525
- For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 2 Chronicles 11:14-15 – The kingdom of Israel is now divided between the northern and southern parts of the kingdom. Jeroboam, the new king of the northern part has established the worship of false gods in the land, and was even raising up priests from non-Levite tribes to lead in the worship of such false gods. The legitimate priests of the Lord, who wouldn’t stand for the worship of false gods to be taking place around them, left their homes and traveled to the southern kingdom where they could worship the Lord properly. What boldness and what faith we see here in these priests! Truly leaving everything they knew, all for the true worship of God. In our culture that is growing ever more sinful, we too may find ourselves having to make hard decisions likes this. A job we love may be holding us back from God’s mission. A relationship that we long to be keep may not be helping us remain faithful to God. A church family that we have been with for decades is changing in some unholy ways. Will we remain knowing where staying will take our faith? Or will we take a bold and faithful step into the unknown to keep our hearts in a posture of following after Jesus? Today be willing to examine all the parts within your life, even the deeply established ones. Are they healthy for your walk with Jesus? If so, ground yourself even deeper in them. If not, be willing to pray over what is the right call, and be willing if God directs to take a step away. For a step away from the thing pulling you away from God is a step closer to God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2600
Daily DEVO 