SHCOC Daily Bible Reading » 1 Kings

Day 153: 1 Kings 19:19-21:16 — Serving

Scott Dutton — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:46:37 +0000

Did he not hear God clearly? Elijah had complained to God, making the statement that he was the only faithful one on the planet. I’m sure he is not the only one to ever feel that way. As he is walking by Elisha, the old prophet threw his coat on the young farmer. This gesture was understood by Elisha as “Come follow me.” His response seems to be somewhat less than Jesus asked of the people of first century Israel. He wanted to go say good-bye. Was this really God’s choice?

1 Kings 19:19-21 ESV — ¹⁹So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. ²⁰And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” ²¹And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

The difference was that he really was saying good-bye and not making excuses. He killed and made a feast of two very expensive animals and in the process burned his bridges (farm tools). Then he followed and cared for the prophet and eventually would become the replacement for the prophet.

God is still calling people to service today. He does not ask us to physically burn our bridges, but spiritually we can do nothing less in our response to Him. How often do those things that we have never really let go of keep us from service to God? This week as you go about your daily routine and someone asks you about serving God, listen carefully. If you hear the response “I don’t have time,” or really any response that begins with “I don’t”, maybe it’s time to build our own fire.

Day 152: 1 Kings 18:1-19:18 — Excuses

Scott Dutton — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:06:27 +0000

1 Kings 18:17-18 (NASB95) — ¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” ¹⁸He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals”

“I didn’t do it, well OK maybe I did but it’s their fault.” “They made me mad.” All my life I have heard and made excuses. Haven’t we all? It is a common fault of men to not want to accept responsibility for our actions.

In today’s reading Ahab wants to blame the prophet for the lack of rain in Israel. He just happened to leave out some important facts. One, the drought was not Elijah’s idea. He was simply following what God had told him to do. Elijah knew the lack of rain would be hard on everyone not just a wicked King and Queen.

Second, Elijah was not the one following false gods and persecuting the real prophets. These are the actions that caused God to withhold the rain from Israel.

Today we still see man wanting to blame someone else for the decisions we make. I am no different. I like to think I follow God’s will everyday but from time to time I find myself in a mess. I pray God will extend His grace a little longer and allow me to one again repent and accept that I and I alone made the decision to sin.

Day 151: 1 Kings 15:33-17:24; John 5:31-47 — Witness statements, what does your life say about you?

Powell Pendergraft — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:53:17 +0000

From Baasha to Ahab, what a crew of misfits and pagans. They might have been merely something to shake our heads over in disgust, but these were kings of Israel! Conspiracy, murder, evil pagan rituals practiced in the land of promise! What a terrible witness to the untaught, unfaithful, and unwitting people who allowed them. The infamous names of Ahab and Jezebel still conjure images of evil only Satan could bring to bear. In the midst of the distress God sends Elijah to warn and announce drought, meant to turn them from the evil, to get their attention. Rather, their evil hearts hardened. Their lives stand as horrible and frightening witness today to those who follow their own wills, desires for money, power, and self.

Elijah found the poor widow outside of Israel who gave to him what she had. Her gift, so small, was rewarded. Her oil and flour did not run out until the rains returned. Her son falls ill and dies, but her faithfulness, although one outside of the covenant, one living among the people of Jezebel, finds reward. Elijah raises her son. Jesus will use this as a witness for her and against the unbelieving of His time who will see Him and, as Ahab’s Israel of old, reject God’s plan for them.

Jesus confronts those who condemn Him for a miracle on the Sabbath. My Father works today. He bears witness of Me. My works bear witness of Me. Search the Scriptures. Do you hear Me? Do you see Me? Do you believe Me? Yet they only heard themselves, approved of each other, saw the very witness of the Scriptures only through the filter of their own goals and will. Do you hear Him?

Whew! That was pretty intense! Yet our lives say something, give witness statements about our values, our loyalties, where we are going in this life and the next. If we could review our lives as though watching a movie, what would we find? We enjoy, sometimes not, talking about family and the lives of grandparents, cousins, and others. What do they say about us? What do our spiritual lives reflect? What do our friends and co-workers see in us? Most importantly, what does our God hear and see in our everyday lives? We will leave our own book of witness. What will it say?

Prayer: Holy, Righteous Father, today help us live purposefully, seeking the grace and blessing You provide and the promises of life to come. May others, seeing us, turn to You, and say “How Great Thou Art.”

Day 144: 1 Kings 4:1-5:18; John 2:1-22 — What will you do with your gifts?

Powell Pendergraft — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:47:50 +0000

Judah and Israel, a united kingdom, a population as numerous as the sands of the sea, flourish. The promise of a homeland for Israel had been fulfilled and all were blessed, each man rested under his own vine and fig tree. Solomon has more than enough to make his rule secure, and the wisdom God gave Solomon abounds in proverbs, songs, and teachings about the world God had given them. Now he will build the temple his father had planned for the God who blessed them. This will be a place to draw the nations and the place all Israel will come to worship the true King of the earth.

Jesus takes His place in the lives of the people He created. As one of us He shares the good times with us. A wedding party, a happy time, provides Jesus the opportunity to begin to demonstrate what He brings to us. We can study and exegete and postulate all day on the wine and verbs in the passage, and perhaps learn something after our minds become soaked with readings and discussions, but the great importance of John’s account would be lost. In the Word made flesh, God communicates to us that He always wants to bless us and give joy and meaning to both this life and the life to come. Jesus, as Man and God, states very powerfully that gifts have meaning and find their fulfillment when used to bless man and glorify God. At this wedding party He does both at the same time. When gifts are used as God intends, they will lead those looking for God to be turned to Him and be given reason to believe and live His will.

What a wonderful example we have! Yes, we know more of what comes later in both accounts, but take them as they are, now. Our Creator blesses us with gifts of many kinds. Take stock of them today. Ask how these abilities, whether many or few, may be used to bless the lives of people and in turn glorify the great and gracious God who freely gives to all, and gave His Son that we might live now and have hope of life to come.

Prayer: Holy, Righteous Father, help us today to see the goodness You provide, the gifts You give, that we may use them to bless others and bring glory to Your name.