Read To Me Daily Semester 4Uzorak

2CHRONICLES 31:
As you may have noticed yesterday in our reading in 2nd Chronicles, a sign of how far Judah and Israel had wandered from the Lord was that even the Passover was not celebrated. When Hezekiah re-instituted the Passover celebration, it was the start of a real revival.

ECCLESIASTES 7:
I find it interesting that Solomon would say in Ecclesiastes 6 that everything has been decided beforehand. I note that GNT implied Who it was who ‘decided’ beforehand, but NLT makes that explicit. So NLT translates:

Ecc. 6:10 NLT Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

Not about the issue of destiny, but about another key point presented in chapter 6, I think that Solomon would have taken back some of his words about the uselessness of life and his lack of satisfaction looking toward the future if he could have listened to what Jesus taught in yesterday’s reading in Matthew. 

MATTHEW 20:
In Matthew yesterday, Jesus taught how evil divorce is, He blessed children (because they are so close to the kingdom of God), and He taught about the difficulty for rich people in this world to enter the Kingdom of God. And at the end of chapter 19, he gave the promise that all missionaries love— the one about the eternal rewards that will be given to those who leave their families and possessions in order to further the Kingdom of God. 

Let’s pray.
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for lovingly receiving the children and praying for them. Just like a child, we long to come to You, for You to receive us, place your hands on us, and pray for us. Lord, as your children, let us not be hard hearted and hard to teach, like the Pharisees. Give us complete understanding of the oneness You have designed for our marriages. And in that area, may we not get drawn away into doing things as the world does. And help us to understand those individuals whom You have called to lead a life without marrying. May we welcome and lovingly include such people in our fellowship. Thank You that we know more than Solomon about what will happen after we die. We know that those who “leave houses, brothers or sisters, or father or mother or children or fields” for your sake, “will receive a hundred times more”. So in addition to enjoying the fruit of our labor here on earth, give us the ability to hold such things lightly and give as much as we can to You. For You gave Yourself for us.