“For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.” 2 Chronicles 15:3-4
Wouldn’t it be great if we could simply and easily learn all that we needed in life? If we could just download all the knowledge we needed, like a computer connected to the internet. Unfortunately, we must go through quite the lengthy arduous journey of learning in this life. A journey that never ends. Grade school, junior high, high school, undergraduate, graduate, and for many doctorate work. Then of course comes the tough lessons of the school of life that can be oh so hard to learn. But even though we must personally pursue the journey of learning, it would be impossible without teachers, instructors, professors, and mentors. Without someone teaching, who can learn? And it is no different with the most key foundational learning that can take place in this life, learning the power of God’s Holy Word. Without the teaching of God’s Word, the learning of it ceases. Without the Bible being proclaimed and taught, its truth ceases to be exemplified and practiced. And when that happens, when people stop learning the ways of God’s Word…society takes steps, nay, major leaps in the wrong direction...the direction away from God. We see here in 2 Chronicles chapter 15, that in major negligence, God’s chosen people, the Israelites, have turned their back on Him and thus, His written Words that He proclaimed to them. There were priests that were assigned the duties of the temple and they proceeded to continue in their duties. Like religious robots, they merely completed the actions assigned to them. But activity does not equal productivity, and even though there was a buzz of activity around the temple, we see that there was no teaching of the Word occurring. There was no teaching priest teaching the people the Word of God. And because of this, the people of Judah began a slow slide, falling into sexual immorality, idolatry, and the worship of false gods. The absence of the continual teaching, learning, and application of God’s Word will cause any civilization to crumble under the judgement of a righteous God as they pursue their own sinful desires. But fortunately, the good king Asa saw this spiritual and moral drifting and instituted a correction, he instituted the renewed teaching of God’s Word. And as a result, we see the fulfillment of a very basic yet all powerful promise of God, if you seek Him, He will be found. Are you actively seeking the teaching of God’s Word today? No, I don’t mean just listening to a preacher, not all preachers teach the Word of God, some merely give personal opinions and their own topical comments from the pulpit of a church. I’m talking about a detailed, daily, intentional, personal study of the very Words of Almighty God directly from the pages of scripture. Engage God’s Word today. Engage in a study that will draw you near to God and in the process allow you to enjoy the peaceful and joyful presence of your Heavenly Father.
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His Law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2
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