Today's Reading:
Judges 1:1–2:9
Acts 21:37–22:16
Psalm 68:21-27
Click on Text Link to Read Online
Focus Verses: Judges 2:10-14
10 After
that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another
generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for
Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They
forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of
Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around
them. They provoked the LORD to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In
his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who
plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were
no longer able to resist.
Insight:
The
new generation of Israelites born in the Promised Land did not remember
or appreciate their history. Did their parents fail to teach them? Did
they simply not listen to their parents? Somehow they forgot their
heritage and turned away from God to worship the idols and false gods of
the people around them. This resulted in conflict, war, and bloodshed.
They
were caught in a tragic cycle. They would forget and forsake God. Then,
they would fall prey to their enemies. Next, they would cry out to God
for help. Then, God would deliver them and restore them through chosen
leaders (the judges), and they would prosper. As they prospered and
things were going well, they would once again plunge into
error—forgetting and forsaking God.
Response and Action:
I
intend to face each new day with a fresh resolve to choose God and
follow Christ Jesus. Every morning I will renew my commitment to Christ,
turn to the Scriptures for guidance, and set my heart on walking in the
ways of Jesus. I will make an effort to know and remember the works and
ways of the Lord. I will do my best to pass on my knowledge and faith
to my children and grandchildren.
O
God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. Help me to love you with all
my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Help me to tell the stories and
speak the truth of your faithfulness in meaningful and convincing ways
so that my children and their peers might know you and find their hope
and purpose in you. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: James 1:22-25
22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it
says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is
like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at
himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But
the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and
continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he
will be blessed in what he does.
Resources:
Never Beyond Hope: How God Touches and Uses Imperfect People
by J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Another Generation
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