Today’s Reading, 2 Chronicles 6-8
Focal Scripture: 2 Chronicles 6:14 “He said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, who keeps his gracious covenant with your servants who walk before you with all their heart.”
How do you feel when someone breaks a promise or speaks untruthfully about you or a situation. I know personally it irritates me very much. Even if there is a legitimate reason the promise wasn’t able to be kept it still hurts. A lack of trust ensues and you do question whether or not the person will keep their word in the future. It is also frustrating when people speak about things or events that are untrue. When a narrative is made to make themselves look good and you look like the villain. In both instances untruth is hard to swallow.
In today’s reading we are reminded that our God is not a promise breaking God. He keeps his word and doesn’t speak what is not good or truthful. Here in these verses the temple has been dedicated and Solomon kneels on the portico to pray. His prayer opens with a reminder of who God is and will always be to his people. God is a covenant keeping God with those who walk before the Lord with all their hearts. Take notice that Solomon said all the servants of the Lord, this was not just a prayer for him and his house. He was publicly praying and reminding the people that God will fulfill what he promised. We just have to keep our part of the agreement.
You may be saying “Allen, we are not under the Old Covenant anymore, so this doesn’t apply to us.” You are right we are not under the Old Covenant we are under the New Covenant. This covenant promises us eternal life and forgiveness of sins by putting our faith and trust in Jesus. Specifically, by confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised him from the dead. When this is done we are exchanging his sacrifice for our lives. We are agreeing to follow him wherever he may lead. He promised us salvation for sins and to be with him forever. We can be just as confident as Solomon that he will honor and keep that promise.
The challenge that our society has today is that many people have a profession of faith but do not have a possession of faith. If we want to have eternal life and sins forgiven we must put our faith in Christ alone. We have become a people who are afraid to say that there is one way to heaven. As offensive as this is, it must be declared loudly and confidently. We do not speak on our behalf but the promise keeping God who commanded us to speak this truth.
People need the truth and will only experience this God who keeps his promises by believing in a biblical Jesus.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading 2 Chronicles 9-12
