2 Chronicles 28; 2 Kings 16-17

Posted on Jul 16, 2016 in Reading the Bible in 2016 |

Saturday                                     

Earlier in Chronicles we read about Uzziah and Jotham who were kings who mostly did what was right. But today,

we read about Ahaz and unfortunately for him, he chooses to follow the wrong path. He did things like sacrifice his own son to the false gods. Look at verse 22, “In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord.” God had brought trouble on Judah and many of the soldiers were killed and women and children carried off as plunder. That is until God intervened and told Israel to leave them along. You would think that Ahaz would have been grateful to God for such generosity, but noooooo, Ahaz calls upon the king of Assyria for help and ignores God. He even had a new altar built and offered sacrifices on it to please the king of Assyria.

How sad it is that we would try to please those in power by compromising our own belief in God. I wonder though how many times we give in to peer pressure…to the world and fail to stand up for what we believe. There was a young pastor I Zimbabwe, Africa who was martyred for his belief in Jesus. Before he was executed he wrote what has become known as the “fellowship of the unashamed.” He writes, “I am a disciple of his. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. … I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.”  Here’s the point…. he would not compromise his belief even unto death. Are we ashamed to be called Christians? Are we embarrassed because we love God and serve Him? Would you give up a day of your week to spend with Him and other Christians? God gives us so much, what are we giving in return?

Food for thought

Pastor Kathy

 

You can find the entire “fellowship of the unashamed” at

https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/commit.htm

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