June 29 - the more things change, the more they should stay the same...

2 Kings 15:1-16:20
Acts 19:13-41
Psalm147:1-20
Proverbs 18:4-5

I wonder what the average Jew, from either Judah or Israel, must have been thinking etching the persistent sinfulness around him or her. Perhaps they remembered God's commands, from a time when obedience seemed so much more simple, perhaps forgetting obedience at the time meant forging forward in faith into the sea, and marching in the desert for years without the certainty of food or water.

But times had changed, and it was harder to stay obedient to God by the ways He had communicated, the old ways. So there were other idols, and persistent Asherah poles, and sinful places of sacrifice in the high places. There were alliances with, and cries for help from, other kings and kingdoms.

Perhaps all this was justified - after all, times were different. They had their kingdoms to protect and to prosper, and those who led surely knew what they were doing, surely could be permitted their own judgement. And, after all, what could an ordinary citizen do?

It sounds so much like what is going on today, when governments, societies, and yes, even churches are finding reason and justification to turn backs on God's commands. After all, things are different in the enlightenment of today,

I don't know about anyone else reading this, but I struggle enough with my own sinfulness, and cannot help but wish to live in a world that makes it easier to be obedient - not more difficult. How much better, how much less discouraging it would be to live where, yes, everyone was still a sinner, but everyone was moving in the same direction. Rather like the time described in today's NT reading, when the realization of who Jesus was caused people to renounce their sinfulness, at great earthly cost.

How grateful am I to be part of a body of believers moving in the direction of God - the one I want my family to take, my children to learn. And how even more grateful am I to know that, despite all the sinfulness in today's Old Testament reading, God's plan was unchanged, unaffected. A king of David's line was still to come.


Jon Lanuza