Wednesday 13 Aug 2014

August 13: 1 Kings 21:20-29

Key Verse: 1 Kings 21:25
But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.

Devotion:
How many times have you skipped over the parts of the Bible that you don’t like to read, you know, those parts that tell you that God does not forget when you do bad things or that God punishes people who work against Him? How many times have you read it through just once so that you can say “I’ve read the whole Bible” and then not gone back again for fear of having to understand the hard parts! I’m sure there are parts of the Bible that each of us would rather no go back and read too many times, but the words are there for a reason!

God wants us to know the truth and part of that truth is that He watches over us all the time. That means that when we are doing bad things, when we are disobeying, when we are fighting, God is watching us. He may well be sighing, crying or grimacing at some of the things we do, but He still knows what we are doing. Ahab thought that he could get away with many things and went ahead and did things, being stirred up by evil people such as his wife Jezebel. That is no excuse!

We can’t turn round and say that we did something because someone else told us it was a good idea. God has given each of us a conscience and a brain that allows us to figure out what is right and wrong. We do not have a weak excuse like that to fall back onto. Ahab did not realise how bad the situation was until Elijah came and told him what God was going to do. Ahab did have a change of heart when he knew how dire the situation was, but it was already too late.

We may think that it is too late for us to repent nowadays when we figure out how much we have done wrong; but we live in a different age now, one covered by the grace of God. Jesus Christ has already paid for our sins by giving His own life on the cross. That means that we are able to have everything forgiven and it is not too late. But if we leave it until we meet Him face to face, then it will be too late. Admit your sins to God now and work with Him in His grace!

Points to Ponder:
Do you follow bad people?

Will you listen to God?