Everyone Who Calls on the Name of the Lord

Readings:
II Kings 25
Acts 2:1-21

Focus:
Acts 2:21:"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord on that day shall be saved."

God had allowed first the kingdom of Israel, and then the kingdom of Judah, to go into exile because of their sinful disregard of his ways. And throughout history many bad things have happened and will happen, ultimately all because of the warping of God's creation that happened when sin entered into the picture.

Yet God will not let that be the last word. On the day of Pentecost after the Resurrection of Jesus, he provided his Holy Spirit to guide and nurture believers from that time forward. And whenever anyone turns to him in sincereness of heart, God will answer. He will not turn anyone away who truly seeks him.

New Beginnings

Readings:
II Kings 24
Acts 1:12-26

Focus:
II Kings 24:12:"King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his courtiers, his officers, and his eunuchs, surrendered to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, now in the eighth year of his reign, made him a prisoner."
Acts 1:26:"They drew lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was elected to be an apostle with the other eleven."

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell greatly into sin. Time after time, God sent prophets to them tell them to repent, and to warn them, so that they could avoid disaster. But they wouldn't listen, and eventually God showed his "tough love" for them by sending them into exile. The lines of the kings of Israel and Judah came to an end, or so it seemed.

When the religious and political leaders felt threatened by the sway that Jesus held over the people, one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot, betrayed him to them. His remorse after he did this was such that he then went out and killed himself. The group of 12 apostles, matching the number 12 of the patriarchs of Israel, had come to an end, or so it seemed.

But God is a God of new beginnings. He can always make something new and good happen when we turn to him in a desperate situation. A twelfth apostle was supplied and the work of the new church continued, despite what Judas Iscariot had done. God can renew any situation.

A God Different from All Others

Readings:
II Kings 18
John 20:1-18

Focus:
II Kings 18:35:"Among all the gods of the nations, is there one who saved his land from me? So how is the Lord to save Jerusalem?"
John 20:17b:"Go to my brothers, and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

The king of Assyria had already conquered many Middle Eastern countries, among them the kingdom of Israel. Now the Assyrians were besieging Judah, and the king of Assyria sent an intimidating message to be read in Hebrew, the language of the common people, before their city walls. He scorned the God of the Judahites, saying that this God was no better than the gods of any of the other peoples he had conquered, and that he would conquer them as he had conquered the others.

But the king of Assyria did not know that this time, he was facing a real god. With the exception of the kingdom of Israel, the other kingdoms he had conquered had worshipped false idols made of wood, metal, and stone. In Judah, however, the god that was worshipped was the living God. And this God had power that the king of Assyria had not even dreamed of.

This God had so much power that he could come himself in the form of a little baby, taking upon himself human flesh, and grow into a man, and then die a painful, humiliating death, in order to take upon himself the punishment for every human being's sins. And then after that, this God had so much power that he could rise from the dead.

This is a God that we can give our whole hearts, our whole lives to.

Worshipping Only the Lord God

Readings:
II Kings 17
John 19:31-42

Focus:
II Kings17:35b-37:"Do not pay homage to other gods or bow down to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, but pay homage to the Lord who brought you up from Egypt with great power and with outstretched arm; to him alone you are to bow down, to him alone you are to offer sacrifice. You must faithfully keep the statutes, the judgments, the law, and the commandments which he wrote for you; you must not pay homage to other gods."

I am going to concentrate on the Old Testament passage because this is, to me, such a key part of what God is communicating throughout the Bible. I have recently thought that the main message of the Bible can be summed up in this way: "I love you, I will save you, obey me, and don't have any other gods but me." And this last part--"don't have any other gods but me"--is very important. God emphasizes it throughout the Bible.

In our day we don't usually think about worshipping idols instead of God, but we might be tempted to worship things that might replace God in our lives. We might put reputation, or success, or family relationships, or money, or any number of things ahead of God in our lives. When we do, we are worshipping another god instead of the Lord God.

We need to put God first. We need to make even little decisions with God in mind. Maybe we need to stop before we make an angry answer to something. Maybe we need to swallow our pride and forgive instead of getting even. (If we do, we may find richer rewards than what we expected.) There are all kinds of ways that we can put God first, and when we do, we will be eager to do it more. And this is God's great desire for us. In my life, I have found it to be actually exciting, and I bet it will be true for anyone.

What is Right in the Eyes of the Lord

Readings:
II Kings 15
John 19:1-16

Focus:
II Kings 15:9a:"He did what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord, as his forefathers had done."
John 19:16:"Then at last, to satisfy them, he handed Jesus over to be crucified."

It strikes me that the first thing that the author of II Kings always says about each new king he describes is whether the king did what was right or what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord. For the purposes of writing the Bible, this is the most important aspect of each king's conduct to be recorded.

In those Old Testament times, it would seem that each king was pretty free to do whatever he wanted, though there are indications that the kings of Israel and Judah were behaving in ways to placate stronger kings, such as the kings of Assyria.

But by the time we get around to Jesus' day, we see the Roman governor, Pilate, acting greatly constrained. When Jesus is brought before him, and Pilate examines Jesus, it sounds like Pilate would much prefer to let Jesus go free. Yet the political pressure that he feels both to keep his subjects pleased, and to appear pleasing to the Roman emperor, Caesar, limit his abilities to do what he might think was correct. He ends up ignoring what seems to be right, and doing what is wrong, in order to remain popular with his subjects and to keep the favor of his superiors. Like the ancient kings of Judah and Israel, Pilate does what is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, and sentences Jesus to death, so easily, with hardly a shred of evidence. It is incredible to read how lightly someone's life can be thrown away. And this was the God of the universe.

Those Who Are For Us Are More Than Those Who Are Against Us

Readings:
II Kings 6
John 15:11-27

Focus:
II Kings 6:16:"Elisha answered, 'Do not be afraid, for those on our side are more than those on theirs."
John 15:19:"If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but you do not belong to the world, now that I have chosen you out of the world, and for that reason the world hates you."

These readings were actually quite pertinent to me at the moment. I sometimes get involved in discussions on other people's denominationally-related blogs, or in the Christians@Microsoft discussion list, and sometimes the discussions are with theological opponents and/or with self-proclaimed atheists. It so happens that I have been involved in not one but two such discussions the last few days, one with people who disagree with me (and others) theologically, and one with some atheists.

In both cases I have had to endure being called a liar, a bigot, and prejudiced, and other such labels, although I and those arguing with me never use labels for those we debate with. After a while, although one can dismiss these things as unreasonable, it does start to wear one down a little.

But tonight when I read these Bible passages I found some very helpful reminders. The world hated Jesus. Jesus is our master, and a servant is not greater than the master. If the world hated Jesus, it will hate us, too. It's no more than we should expect. Where Jesus is, there should we be, too. And we are in good company, with someone able to shelter us.

But also, those who are for us are more than those who are against us. Ultimately, we have all the power of God and his saints and angels on our side. We will be with him in the very end, and all will be well.

Dwelling in Jesus

Readings:
II Kings 5
John 15:1-10

Focus:
John 15:5b:"Anyone who dwells in me, as I dwell in him, bears much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

We want to be good people. We want to do what is right and to live good lives. But we can't do that on our own. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.

Moreover, if we don't dwell in him, we are barren of goodness, like withered branches, much like Elisha's servant Gehazi. Gehazi thought he could secretly get some of the bounty that Naaman had brought with him to reward Elisha for curing him of leprosy, so, even though Elisha had turned it down, he lied to Naaman about it and ended up getting some of it. But Elisha knew about the lie, and Gehazi ended up punished. Gehazi was not dwelling in God's ways, and this was the result.

No, if we want to be better people, if we want to live good lives, we need to dwell in Jesus.