Daily Reading
Daily Thought
Hear the heart of God as Jesus says to a sinner, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Judah repeats evil upon evil and is lost, but through the end, “the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place (2Chronicles 36:15). The Hebrew says literally, “God rose up early and sent messengers.” God began his day thinking of his lost people.
I remember certain teachers, when explaining their criteria for grading, would challenge, “You have to really want an ‘F’ to receive an ‘F’ in my class.” These teachers did everything they could to pass us, unless we truly tried to fail. “But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy” (2Chronicles 36:16). God had sought to save the lost, but there are those who would not be found. Thus the Chronicles end. Almost.
I love it when a movie, at the very end, after the closing credits, adds one more scene, a glimpse of what’s next. There is more to come. All is not lost. The Chronicles do this. After the kings of Judah and Israel did evil repeatedly, leading to the fall of the kingdom, a foreign king speaks the closing words of the Chronicles, words that give the Hebrews hope. “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up’” (2Chronicles 36:23). Israel and Judah tried hard to fail, but God won’t let them. This proclamation of Cyrus is repeated to open the next book, Ezra 1:2-3, and the story continues.
Daily Prayer
My God, my Lord, and my Savior, I am so glad that You came uninvited into my life. Thank you for crashing my party and rescuing me from myself, because I would have sought my own pleasure to my destruction. Instead, You saved me for You pleasure, which is life itself, a life everlasting and overflowing.
May I ever find my joy in You. May I begin each day thinking of You, delighting in Your Word, following Your lead, living life to the full. You are good, a righteous King, a loving Lord, Almighty God. I worship You.
Amen