Monday, July 19, 2010

I'm not sure what to title this.

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: 2 Kings 17:15 They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their ancestors, and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false; they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do as they did.

Observation: For a time, the people of Israel lost their identity.

Application: Now that I’m a little older, I’ve had occasion to reflect on my life a little bit. And one of the things I’m most thankful for is the fact that I did not always get what I wanted.

Seriously. There were times when, for whatever reason I was enamored with this or that person or this or that thing or this or that way of life. And I think that many of them, had they come to fruition, would have left me with a sense of emptiness in the end. It’s like recognizing the difference between lust and love. Both include a powerful sense of attraction, but one is only that and the other is so much more than that.

I think that’s part of what the author of 2 Kings was getting at when he said that the ancient people of Israel “went after false idols and became false.” They got what they thought they wanted, lost just about everything else and, in the end, even what they had secured wasn’t worth keeping.

Prayer: Lord, help me to always remember that what you want for me is far more lasting and true than what I will often want for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings today included: 2 Kings 17, 2 Chronicles 28, Psalm 46 & James 3)

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