Topic: Covenant Breakers [DCLM Daily Manna 22 October 2020 Devotional By Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: 2 Chronicles 24:15-22 (KJV)
15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.
18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.
20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.
21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.
Key Verse: “Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.” – (2 Chronicles 24:19)
MESSAGE:
Among the settlers of the American West in the Nineteenth Century, there was an unwritten and unspoken code: You must keep your word, no matter your challenges. So a man in September 1879 made a 1300-mile trek to pay a debt of $300 he had borrowed the previous year in another state. The lender did not expect him to take the trip just to settle the loan because of a severe winter that set in unexpectedly. His friends tried to stop him. But he said he had promised to pay and he must keep to his word. He did in snow and storm.
As genuine followers of the Lord, we must not break the promise we made to the Lord and people as did Judah after the death of Jehoiada, the faithful priest God used to deliver them from the wickedness of a queen and gave them the seed of David as king. In (2 Chronicles 23:16), they made a solemn pact with Jehoiada to be “the Lord’s people.” But alas, they broke their word and returned to idol worship.
They also grieved the Lord by killing His servant Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, whom He sent to warn them against their apostasy. In a backslidden state, a person becomes blind and deaf to entreaties, no longer recognising his Creator, His prophets or their benefactors. He is also not moved to keep his covenant which he made voluntarily to the Lord. He is unaware he is on the threshold of destruction if he does not repent and return to the Lord.
The greatest evidence of a redeemed life is our faithfulness to the Lord and our fellowmen. We are to honour our promise to serve God all our life after He has saved us from sin. We are to pursue a lifetime of holiness and obedience to His standards in the presence or absence of our leaders, brethren or family members. This is the only way to show gratitude to the Lord.
Thought For The Day: Honouring God’s word helps you to honour your own word.
The Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 3-4
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
