June 20

June 20

Five Wicked Kings (Northern Kings 40 years) -- The sins of five different kings & God's anger.

Today's Readings:

Reading 1: 1Kings 15:25-33

Reading 2: 1Kings 16:1-28

Reading 3: Isaiah 65:2-3

The decline into evil continues in Israel (the northern kingdom) as king after king turns away from God and engages in self-promoting and corrupting behaviors.

Evil always shows itself violently, and the greater the evil, the greater the violence (as we see on the news day by day). But let us remember that evil is not a force or a commodity. Evil is the absence of good, just as cold is the absence of heat, and darkness is the absence of light. (You may have seen the viral video attributing this insight to Albert Einstein).

So here we see kings of an ungodly nation running ever further from God and evil growing as a result. This is not what God wants (as the prophet Isaiah records), but He gives us the freedom to choose, nonetheless. Love cannot be forced. It has to be freely given. The good news is that in Jesus, God's love is freely given to us. So let's resolve to go in the opposite direction to those ungodly kings and pursue God with all our hearts.

Have a great day!

Mark.