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Chronicles 34:31 – then the king stood in his place and made a covenant
before the Lord , to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and
His testimonies and His statues with all his heart and all his soul, to
perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book
Bible Studies: 2 Chronicles 34:1-33
Josiah was only eight years old when he became king in Jerusalem.
Imagine an eight year old child, becoming the president of USA or any
other country? What does an eight year old know? What experiences of
life has he got? Mercy gives one an opportunity he does not deserve. The
woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11 did not deserve mercy according
to the Law of Moses. Actually allowing her to live is a sin, but when
they brought her to Jesus, He had mercy on her and gave her life back.
If not for mercy, the Leper in Luke 5:12-13 would have been stoned to
death. According to the Law of Moses lepers are not allowed in towns
except they are passing through and to do that they need to inform the
community priory to passing. The man risked his life to come and meet
Jesus and the Lord had mercy on him and healed him. Through the tender
mercies of Jesus, one of the two criminals received salvation on the
cross, Luke 23:39-42. Lamentations 3:22 says it is of the Lord’s mercies
that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. Out of
mercy Moses saw God and lived, Exodus 33:17-33.
To appreciate
God’s mercy, Josiah went out and completely destroyed everything (idols
and gods of the land) that could come between him and this merciful God.
God was impressed with the way this young king responded to His
mercies, so He promised him that all his life he will never face any
challenge or see calamity. Josiah knew what it meant to spend a year
without facing challenges and now the Lord was promising that all his
life he will neither face any challenge not see calamity. This king
decided to make a covenant before God that he will serve God like no one
had ever done. He will spend for God and be spent by God. He promised
to live holy. In Judges 15:11- Judges 16:1, three thousand men of Judah
(brothers of Samson) bound him with a rope and gave him to the
Philistines. The enemies with-in caught him and handed him over to the
enemy with-out to kill. Out of mercy, the Lord delivered him that day.
Instead of thanking God for the victory, he began to question God about
his thirst. Out of mercy the Lord provided water again. Immediately he
drank the water and was satisfied, he went straight into the house of a
prostitute to celebrate his victory. How are we responding to God’s
mercy today? The fact that we are alive it is by His mercy. Do we wake
up to thank God for the gift of life or we just go about our business.
Our salvation how do we take it, do we bring others to Christ, invite
people to church or just watch them on Sunday go to play football or
sleep of all day long? That business or job, do we tithe on our earning
or just spend everything? .The good health He gave to us, do we use it
to party and fornicate or join the workers in the church and work for
Him in His vine yard? The way we respond to God’s mercy will determine
the level of His mercies we will get. The next time the enemy caught
Samson they plucked out his eyes immediately, Judges 16:21. Actually he
did not leave the camp of the Philistine alive .Not even a single soul
mourned Samson but till date it is a custom in Israel to lament about
the death of Josiah.
KEY QUESTION: How are you responding to God’s mercies over your life and family?
Psalm 150:6 let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise you the Lord.
There is power in appreciation. One the thing appreciation does is it
opens door. Because of what God did for Solomon , he offered a thousand
burnt offering to say thank You. All odds were against him to succeed
David on the throne . Why ? David – his father and king preferred the
younger of brother of Absalom – Adonijah for his good looks (1 Kings
1:5-6) , besides that he was a product of adultery which caused the
death of an innocent man ( 2 Kings 11:1-27) and to make matters worse he
lacked wisdom - a must have for any king .God was so impressed with
Solomon's appreciation that He asked him what shall I give to you? In 1
Kings 11:28 , Jeroboam got an opportunity to serve before the king and
he decided show appreciation by working very hard. The king noticed this
and made him the officer over all the labour force of the house of
Joseph. Another man who knew how to show appreciation was Paul. After
all the evil he had done, Jesus called him to ministry . He was so
thankful so he decided to show Jesus his appreciation by committing his
life to evangelism. The Lord decided that if Paul will appreciate Him
like this then He will anoint him so mightily that aprons from his body
will be able to cast away demons – Acts 19:12 .Appreciation does not
only open doors but it keeps doors that are already opened open
indefinitely or permanently .After Solomon 's first offering , the Lord
visited him and blessed him .Solomon did not take the Lord's visit for
granted so he decided to appreciate God for His visit. During the temple
dedication he brought an offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep to
say thank you. God accepted the offering by sending fire from heaven to
consume the offering . After this God blessed Solomon to the extent
that silver was considered worthless during his reign -1 Kings
10:21.Jeroboam continued to work hard and the Lord made him king – 1
kings 12:20 .Paul did not rest on his oars but kept on appreciating God
by working hard. The Lord took him to see his reward while he was still
alive ,1 Timothy 4:8
Lack of appreciation Is deadly. One thing
it does is it shuts door. An opportunity arose for Nabal in 1 Samuel
25:2-44 to show appreciation to the people who helped protect his
shepherd and sheep in the desert and he refused .The Lord put an end to
his journey on earth. In Luke 17:11-19 is the story of the ten lepers
Jesus cured. After they received their healing , only one returned to
thank God . While the other nine were only cleansed , he was the only
one that was made whole which meant every other sickness in his life-
physically,materially ,maritally were taken care of.
It is very
important we all learn to appreciate God and appreciate people God has
used to help us. How do you appreciate God ? Thank Him .According to
Psalm 150:6 one way to appreciate God for the gift of life is by
praising Him When we pay our tithes we are simply appreciating God for
giving us a job and the good health to do the job. Lets appreciating our
bosses and employers by working hard to support the Organization. Lets
appreciate people who help us by telling them thank you. When people
lend us things lets return it in time ,this is part of showing
appreciation. Couples should appreciate each other – the wife should
humbled her self and the husband should love her. Children should
appreciate their parents by studying and passing with good grades. One
important way to appreciate our salvation is by witnessing about Christ
to our friends and family.
ACTION POINT : Learn to appreciate God, People and opportunities.
