August 5 – 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Could you imagine becoming a king, or president, or even a responsible adult at the age of eight years old? I certainly could not imagine it. In our reading today that is exactly what we find, an eight year old boy who becomes king over God’s people. It is assumed that he had some sort of official ruling for him until he was old enough and wise enough to actually rule. Whoever that person was, they must have been a person in love with God. The previous examples that Josiah sees in his father Amon and grandfather Manasseh had no real love for God (Manasseh developed it late in life after his world crashed around him). This was very fortunate for the people of Judah.

Unlike his father Josiah had a deep love for God himself. During his reign he did many great things to bring Judah back into worshiping God. In his effort, not only did he focus their hearts on God, but he also cut out from Judah everything that pointed to the worship of false gods. This was an important part of the heart purification. 2 Kings 23 really highlights all that Josiah did.

What lesson can we learn from Josiah? The important one is this … to truly worship God your life has to be purged of everything that does not honor God. Start with the small things. Continue working each and every day, week, month, and year to become more and more like God. Understand that it may not happen over night, but it is a process you must go through. 

July 17 – Isaiah 18-22

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Isaiah 18-22. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

I feel the more I read the Bible the more I fall in love with it. The Bible is unlike any other book on the face of the planet. Where else do you get a book that was written over a fifteen hundred year period of time, in three different languages, on three different continents and yet it all tells one story? Where else do you get a book that teaches so many truths but at the same time contains destruction and violence like the Bible does? Where else do you find steamy sex scenes like Song of Solomon yet they are completely appropriate and even God honoring? Where else do you find the very mind of God contained in the words on the pages? Nowhere! I love this book.

I was reminded of that today as I visualized the imagery of Isaiah’s prophecies. One really struck me in Isaiah twenty-two verses seventeen and eighteen … “For the LORD is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you, crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!” (Isaiah 22:17-18 NLT). I love that imagery … the idea of God taking a person, crumpling them into a ball and hurling them. What an amazing word picture God paints through Isaiah’s pen.

So what amazes you about the Bible? How does God move you to fathom various thoughts about his Word? What draws you back to God’s word over and over again?