Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

14 July 2024

Reading From II Chronicles 28, II Kings 16-17

“To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.”

–II Kings 17:34-41

     All of Israel except for the tribal kingdom of Judah was exiled to Assyria because of their wickedness.  It is important to remember that this rebellion against the Lord took place from the commoners to the highest offices of the land.  A nation is more than its government, it is made up of everyone and they continually diluted the veneration of Jehovah by committing spiritual adultery with false idols. It gives me pause to consider what false idols might be in my own life.

     The king of Assyria replaced the Israelites in Samaria with people he wanted to deport from Assyria but they did not know how to serve Yahweh and so lions attacked them.  When he heard of this, he sent Israelite priests back to Samaria to teach the deportees how to serve the God of Jacob.  This shows us that in those ancient times, gods and goddesses were viewed as deities over specific cities and regions. 

     The king of Assyria wanted these foreigners to learn how to obey Yahweh because he viewed God as sovereign over the geographic area of Samaria, but we know that He alone is the Most High God over all the universe.  Quite often the purity of worship expressed to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob was polluted with the worship of all kinds of local gods and goddesses in the Fertile Crescent.  But God is worthy of our undivided affection. 

     His children are not to mix our devotion to Him with the adoration of other idols in our lives.  We need to ask for His perspective, for Him to open our spiritual eyes to weed out elements of our lives that compete for our attention.  If we place Him first in our lives, everything else has a way of falling into place under His authority and godly prioritization.  We are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all other necessities will be provided for us, rather than worshipping those necessities.

“Lord, I pray that You would teach Your sons and daughters how to rightly align our priorities with the harmonious principles found in Your Word the Bible.  Thank You for blessing us with the guidance of Your Holy Spirit leading our hearts and minds and actions that we might bring glory and honor to Your holy Name.  Purify us from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus and purify our worship of You.  We love You Lord and it is our fervent desire to please You.  In the Name that is above every other name, Jesus Christ I pray.  Amen.”

Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

–“Open My Eyes That I May See” by Clara H. Scott

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

–Psalm 19:14

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

–Ezekiel 11:19