Bible Chapter: II Chronicles 11 & 12

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    Can you say roller coaster?  That is an unfortunate and yet true description of Rehoboam.  He became the king of Judah and started out well.  He assembled 180,000 warriors to fight against the northern kingdom.  God’s word came to him to not fight against their brothers.  So, he obeyed God’s command and they didn’t attack Israel.  Rehoboam fortified many cities and made the nation secure as they walked in the ways of the Lord.
    Then this king began to take eighteen wives and sixty concubines and had eighty eight children.  Even though the kings thought they could and should take multiple wives, it was never God’s plan for them to do this.  This decision always brought problems.  The common result is shown in the beginning of chapter 12, “he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him.”  Here is that spiritual roller coaster.  After establishing the kingdom based on God’s way, he turned to sinful practices and pulled the nation down with him.  The nation came under the domination of Egypt and Egypt took much of the vast wealth that had been accumulated.  Shishak, King of Egypt, took the gold shields Solomon had made.  Rehoboam had bronze shields made to replace them.  That is such an accurate description of what happens when people walk away from God.  They always get something of much less value, when they think life will be better in the ways of sin.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    A thought that has been in my mind much lately is the importance of finishing strong.  It is easy to start out strong.  When a person is young there is an abundance of energy and a desire to do well.  Submitting to and serving God looks exciting.  Then, the tempter shows up and begins to give all sorts of options that look so amazing.  Sin looks attractive.  And, the person who started out so strong falls flat on their face and becomes another statistic of those who failed.  Finish strong.  Stick with the commitment to the Lord.  It’s important to not only know about this truth, but apply it.  Finish strong.

3.  How can I help someone?
    See the lives that people have lived.  Learn from both those who were successful to the end and those who stumbled along the way.  What made a person spiritually successful?  What made a person fall from God?  Learn from their lives and apply what works and avoid what destroys.