Thursday 25 August

2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28

“The Lord can give you much more than that.”  It doesn’t matter what ‘that’ is, the statement will stand.  A hundred talents of silver is a pretty hefty booty, but not compared to what the Lord can give.  Amaziah believed God about this and went on to gain victory and great quantities of plunder.  God showed Amaziah that Money is just an idol, it’s not the ultimate security, it’s OK to see it lost.  But the idol of Power did for Amaziah.  He wanted to maintain control and so he dallied with the gods of the people of Seir that he knew were weaker than he.  He didn’t like the idea of some snotty-nosed un-named prophet walking up to him and telling him what to do.  So he shut up the mouth of the Lord and trusted in his own power to save.  What a dufus.  He went mincing over to Israel and got his butt spanked all the way back to Jerusalem.  The Lord could have given him much more than that.  He could have given him more than broken down walls and lost gold and silver.  Amaziah’s own power was just an idol, it was just an illusion of strength.  And Money and Power continue to be idols for us today.  And Sex is the third one that often is named.   We think a higher salary or more control or more regular orgasms are really what we need.  But the Lord can give us much more than these things.  He is the one that we need.  The Lord is the God of the land and the sea, the mighty creator of everlasting to everlasting, he surely can take care of us, and give us more than we could ever imagine.

1 Corinthians 16:5-24

And so ends this brutal, beautiful letter.  Paul has railed against the Corinthians time and time again but he’s also exposed his soul to them and their name is scored on it in blood.  You can nearly smell the sweat he has spilt for them in prayer.  Surely they would have realised the depth of his love for them, the aching strength of his commitment, his longing to see them grow.  So as the letter finishes the hanging question seems to be this - what will you devote yourselves to?  What cause will you choose to die for?  Paul’s desire is clear.  He holds up the household of Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus as people who gave themselves to the saints, who have served and refreshed and laboured for the benefit of the church.  This is what he wants us to devote ourselves to - to each other, to building each other up, to cheering each other along, to seeing each other advance.  Such devotion takes courage, such devotion takes strength.  Such devotion needs love.  And most of all, such devotion needs the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  But it is a devotion that we can all make, if we choose to.  Will we shake ourselves out of our self-obsession?  Will we come to church keen to give, not to get?  Will we see housegroup as our family, as people to whom we belong?  Will we raise the moral bar and help others keep themselves pure?  Will we earnest pray for encouragement and strengthening for our friends?  And will we choose to forsake our rights and sacrifice our future for the sake of the gospel of Christ?  There is a church dying on its feet, there is a world dead in its sins.  Will we devote ourselves to Jesus’ heart for it, or will we just casually flick over the page?

Psalm 102:18-28

“You remain the same, and your years will never end”.