Bible Verse of The Day – 11-6-20

Judges 13:1 (NKJV) 1 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

I have spent a fair amount of time in the Old Testament over the last few months.

During this time, I have made an observation that is truly saddening. In fact, this morning while I was shaving, I was listening to the book of 1st Chronicles, and I heard the phrase “and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” yet again.

I literally shook my head in bewilderment at the people of Israel, wondering how they could have been so callous in their attitudes toward God. How could they continue, over and over again, to defy God and turn their backs on Him?

My question was somewhat rhetorical, I guess, because I already knew the answer.

Their hearts were never really for God. They just wanted whatever He would give them.

Time and time again we read how God would bless His people. They would serve Him for a short period of time, and then they would turn to other gods.

Eventually, God would become agitated with them, and His wrath would be poured out on them in one way or another.

This was usually in the form of various sicknesses or diseases. Sometimes it was in the form of being captured by foreign leaders and taken into captivity for a number of years.

God clearly punished them for their lack of loyalty. But the punishment was also for their behavior; their abhorrent actions that were a stench in the nostrils of God.

One other thing I noticed is that it wasn’t just the nation as a whole that was guilty. Individuals carried this attribute too, doing evil in the sight of the Lord. And they paid the price also.

But in all of this, something else stands out clearly. And it is this; when the people’s hearts turned, and they sincerely repented, God’s mercy was always right there to make a way for them to come back to Him and live under His blessings.

There is so much we can all learn from this when it comes to how our actions affect the path of our lives.

And here’s the “moral of the story”. Love God. Put Him first in everything. And walk in His favor.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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