Sun.’s Devo.- Repentance and Restoration

Read: 2 Chron. 33:14-34:33, Ro. 16:8-27, Ps. 26:1-12, Pr. 20:19 After Manasseh’s repentance in prison, he came home to do massive cleansing of the land and repair to the walls and the temple Here is one king who ended well. His son Amon took the throne when he died and turned from God to idols. His own servants conspired against him and killed him. The people of the land killed the servants and made Josiah, his son, king. Although Josiah was only eight, he did a massive cleansing of the land like few kings had ever done. It took him ten years to cleanse the land of idolatry. He then started repairing the temple. In their renovation they found a copy of the law and had it sent to Josiah. When he read it, he realized how much they had disobeyed what it said. Josiah repented for the nation and God promised that His discipline would not fall during Josiah’s reign. I often wonder if he read the prophecy where he was named by name. It is found in Zephaniah 1. If I had read that, I would have repented too. Romans gives us a list of names of people Paul wants to honor for their service in the ministry. If you need a good baby name, I found one from the list: Rufus Urbane. Sounds like a winner to me! Seriously, at the end, Paul gives us some good advice. He said to be wise to what is good and simple concerning evil. In other words, study to understand what good is and don’t concern yourself with knowledge of evil. Wasn’t that the fruit we weren’t suppose to eat in the garden- the knowledge of good and evil? Then Paul promises us that Satan would soon be put under our feet which is where he is now. Lord, your Word is life and it is a sword. To Josiah it was a sword and to us it is life. Thank you for your Word.