Does God have our attention, yet? God will get our attention. Ready or not. If we learn from our mistakes, we don’t have to repeat them.
Jeroboam was a wicked king who split the northern tribes away from David’s dynasty. He was bent toward evil. God fired warning shots across the bow. One warning came through a prophet from Judah. He met Jeroboam at Bethel, the old center of worship, named the “house of God,” by Jacob, and predicted that a godly king would rise in the south. Josiah of the house of David would work for righteousness. Jeroboam cried foul, and as he stretched his hand toward the prophet, his hand shriveled. Then he asked the man of God to pray for him. And he did and it was healed.
If we were sinning and experienced judgment like a hand shriveling, and then we asked for help and God gave it, would we serve him? Would we ever defy God again? Jeroboam offered to buy the prophet’s supper that night, but he declined. Later, the prophet disobeyed God, accepted a dinner invitation from another prophet, and subsequently was killed by a lion. Jeroboam knew all of this. He had seen the hand of God work against him and for him, and still, he returned to his sin.
Let’s consider today a gift from God. He knows the worst about us and still loves us. His kindness leads us to repentance. We must not squander the chance to live for God today. He is not mocked. Ready or not, God calls us to righteousness. Will we accept his call?
