Sunday, June 15, 2014

Sun.’s Devo - Kings and the Chosen

Read: 1 Kings 14:1-15:24, Acts 10:1-23a, Ps. 133:1-3, Pr. 17:7-8 Now we begin the roll call of the kings. They will all be compared to King David and his reign. Most of them will not walk with God, but a few, like Asa will. Judah and Israel remain bitter enemies for centuries. In today’s reading, Abijah, the very prophet that prophesied Jeroboam’s kingship, proclaims his death and the death of his son that was probably named after him. Nadab, his son became the next king. This is Israel. In Judah, Reoboam is an evil king and during his reign the Temple and Solomon’s house is robbed of its gold and treasures. Abijah, his son replaced him as king. (Abijah must have been a popular name back then.) He didn’t follow after God either. He died and Asa his son became king. Asa did what was right in God’s eyes. He rid the country of evil and idolatry. He even had his mother removed from being the queen because she had an idol. By this time Baasha had become king of Israel, the northern kingdom. Asa bought the allegiance of Syria with all the silver and gold he had. They helped him stop Israel from building a fortress in their land. In the Old Testament we are reading of common men in God’s eyes made royalty in the world’s while in the New Testament we are reading of common men that God calls royal. God sent Peter a dream so that when an Italian man named Cornelius came to visit him, he would not cast him out as common. God showed him that what He has cleansed, should never be called common. Most of us are Gentiles who would have been considered common in that day, yet God chose to close the eyes of His chosen, for a time, and open our eyes and choose us. We can never see ourselves as common again. We are chosen just as Cornelius was. Lord, thank you for the gift of seeing and being called chosen.

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