January 28, 2023
Passage Read: 1 Kings 14-17
Meditation Verses: 15:3-4
Thought
The Lord is gracious even to sinners, but it is usually not because of them, but because of a promise He made to a previous generation. Indeed, His loyalty to Israel is not so much because of Israel's faithfulness, but because of God's promise to Abraham. The only reason they survive despite their sin is because of God's loyalty to Abraham and the promise He gave him. Yet because of that, future generations who are less than faithful don't understand that the good they enjoy, like the strength of Jerusalem, is not because of them, but because of their forefather. So they may be confused in thinking that their behavior is acceptable in God's eyes, and so have no sense of their need of repentance. So they go on in their ways, provoking the Lord to anger, while thinking good things are happening to them because they're doing so well! So usually the Lord sends prophets to set them straight, but the good they enjoy seems to suggest to them that the prophets don't really know what they're talking about, that they're just extreme and can be safely ignored.
Application
The Lord is gracious, but it seems like His graciousness works against His messaging. We need His mercy, otherwise, who could stand, but in the face of His kindness, people think they're just fine, even when they are pretty awful. It would be more helpful if God disciplined clearly and directly every sin that was committed. But then there would be no need for faith. There would be no need for prophets. There would be no need for those who believed in Him to step up and separate from the world and speak up for God. There is a day coming when God will discipline every sin as it comes: when Jesus reigns on Earth. But that is after these days of faith and grace are done, when these days of preparing a people to reign with Him are completed. In the meantime, I need to choose to live for the coming kingdom, and lay aside the treasures of this age and what passes for acceptable behavior in this world, and I need to get "radical" and "extreme" and call people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, even though they all think Jesus is good with them.