Devotion – Receive or Resist? (365/156)
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
What happens when you interact with God's Word? Does it shape your life, or do you leave unchanged?
King Josiah was still a young man when the Book of the Law was discovered in the temple (2 Kings 22:8-13). As God's Word was read, he was deeply grieved because he recognized how far Judah had strayed from the Lord. He humbled himself before the Lord, gathered the people, read the covenant aloud, and renewed the nation's commitment to follow the Lord (2 Kings 23:1-3). And the Bible says, “Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.” (2 Kings 23:25)
Unlike Josiah, his son Jehoiakim rejected God’s Word. As Jeremiah's scroll was read, he cut it piece by piece and burned it in the fire (Jeremiah 36:20-26). Neither he nor his officials trembled or repented. They just continued in their sin.
Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:35), lived in perfect submission to His Father's Word. Through Him, God gives us new hearts that hunger for His truth and desire to obey it.
Pause and Ponder
How do I usually respond when God's Word exposes an area of sin or disobedience in my life?
Is my heart tender and teachable, or have I become resistant to God's correction?
What step of obedience is God calling me to take in response to His Word today?
The Word is not meant merely to inform us but to transform us. A tender heart receives His correction; a hard heart resists it.
Holy God, give me a tender heart that welcomes Your Word, and responds with humble obedience and wholehearted devotion to You. Amen.
Extended Reading: 2 Kings 22-23; Jeremiah 36:20-26
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