As many of you know, our family is trying to read through the entire Bible this year. I have seen so much fruit in our children’s lives through this regular reading, and we’ve had many profitable discussions.
It never ceases to amaze me that the Lord’s living and active Word speaks to each of us in very personal ways. We can all listen to the same passage and be challenged and encouraged by different things!
Recently we were reading through the book of 2 Kings, during the week of the inauguration of our new President. I could not help but feel discouraged, as we read about King Manassah, who did evil in the eyes of the Lord and led his nation to do the same.
We read, “Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end–besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the LORD.” 2 Kings 21:16 Our new President will shed much innocent blood with the stroke of his pen if he overturns legislation which protects life.
I asked my oldest son to share how the Lord was speaking to him through the passages we had read, and his perspective was totally different. The verse that stood out to him was 2 Kings 13: 23, which says, “But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
He was struck with how merciful the Lord was toward His people even in the face of detestable sin. It encouraged him to realize that if the Lord could be merciful to Israel when they were following after other gods, that the Lord would also be merciful to sinners like us as we try to live for Him, however imperfectly.
Both passages were timely, and it was worth reflecting on both.
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