Tuesday June 5th

On Sunday, we were introduced to Ahab, king of Israel, and his wife Jezebel. Out of a string of evil and wicked kings, Ahab was infamous for being the worst and Jezebel urged him on every step of the way. Together, they did terrible things: murder, idolatry, jealousy, theft, hatred, willful disregard for God's commands. In today's reading, Ahab was about to go into battle against Ben-Hadad king of Aram. God told Ahab that he would hand the enemy army over to him and "then you will know that I am the Lord." (1 Kgs 20:13)

As we've been reading this year, I have been constantly amazed at how merciful and faithful God is. Today is no exception. Ahab was about to go into battle and God was there with him, handing him the victory. I see this as a merciful God giving one of His sinful disobedient children a chance to come back to Him. Despite Ahab's great sin, God had not given up on Him. He was faithful through the battle even though Ahab had not been faithful to Him. 

On Sunday we sang the song "Your Love Never Fails." One line that stuck in my head was this: "I know I still make mistakes but You have new mercies for me everyday." Ahab's wickedness was great, but God's mercy was greater. Unfortunately, Ahab did not take this opportunity to make things right with God. Fortunately, we have the same opportunity everyday when we make mistakes. We can accept His grace and live in fellowship with Him. If God was faithful enough to show mercy to Ahab, then He certainly can gives us new mercies everyday.