December 8, 2024 1 Kings 8:46-53
December 8, 2024 1 Kings 8:46-53
46 “If they sin against
you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give
them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the
enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they turn
their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and
plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and
have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 if they
repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their
enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land,
which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house
that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in
heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their
cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned
against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you,
and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive,
that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they
are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from
the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let your eyes be
open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving
ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you
separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your
heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our
fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
A large portion of Solomon’s prayer was about future
forgiveness. He asked God to be open to forgiving the nation if they fell into
sin sometime in the future. He specifically asked they be allowed to return to
the Promised Land if they repented after being taken captive and exiled by a
foreign power. (Luke Taylor, 2BLikeJesus)
As Christians our sins are forgiven, past, present and
future. Yet God wants us to ask for repentance and yearns to hear from us.
What can we learn from Solomon in the way we approach God
for forgiveness? Conversely, are you harboring unforgiveness in your heart?
I urge you to seek to forgive others just as Christ has
forgiven us.
Robin Adams
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