December 31, 2024 1 Kings 14:21-30
December 31, 2024 1 Kings 14:21-30
21 Now
Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the
city that the Lord had
chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His
mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. 22 And Judah
did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,
and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed,
more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For
they also built for themselves high places and pillars
and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24 and
there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to
all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
25 In the
fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against
Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the
house of the Lord and
the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took
away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 27 and
King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the
hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's
house. 28 And as often as the king went into the
house of the Lord, the guard
carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.
29 Now the
rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the
Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 30 And
there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31 And
Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of
David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son
reigned in his place.
How often we see the
words, “They did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord!” Over and over we see this pattern. God doesn’t change His rules because we don’t
like them. He also won’t let us get away
with blatant disobedience. How sad it is
to know that God’s chosen people so seldom chose Him. But look at the rest of the world. We aren’t choosing Him as a rule, but we tend
to choose whatever is easiest, or will bring us the most power and money. Our nation was founded on trusting God, but
we see today how few in our nation truly choose Him. How it must hurt His heart to be our Creator
and love us so much that He gave up His Son and allowed Him to suffer and die
for us, and then we treat Him and His gift with such a lack of
appreciation.
When I think about this
world and how far it has gone away from God, I wonder how much longer God will
put up with it before He calls it quits.
He is such a patient and loving God, He gives us chance after chance,
but that patience will come to an end someday, and there will be no more
chances. Share with those you love and
pray they will come to Jesus very soon.
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