The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
1 Chronicles 7-9
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 5: Kings and Prophets: God shapes a kingdom people
Background Information: 1 Chronicles 7-9
You don’t need to try and pronounce each name and ponder these lists carefully. It is okay to move quickly through them. This doesn’t mean you are just putting in time. Names and numbers have a teaching function in Scripture, but they don’t require the careful attention and mental work that some of the direct teaching passages do. You should, for instance, read slowly and carefully through the Sermon on the Mount. You can read quickly through these chapters in Chronicles, but to maximize your benefit you should ponder the overall circumstances that these lists represent. In 975, Israel is split in two because of the sins of the people, and specifically the sins of the Kings. About 150 years later the Northern Kingdom (called Israel) is conquered. Fast forward another 130 years and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) falls to Babylon. Now about 70 years later the people begin to return in waves that took place over 80 or more years. We are talking about many centuries of history in these lists. The people Ezra is writing for include some who had straggled back to Jerusalem decades earlier and some who had come as a part of the second wave of returnees. They are lost in the “trees” of daily living for lack of a larger view of the “forest” of what got them there. Ezra is giving them a comprehensive history, not as a mere historian but as a theologian. A single verse tells them the story of why they had been in Babylon: “But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.”(1 Chron. 9:1). But their unfaithfulness was the not the final word; God had made a covenant promise long before the rise of human kings. Their return was a part of God keeping that promise. Read quickly through the names, but as you do, think deeply about the work of God through all these many generations and his work in your own time.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for FCA. Ask God to use Keith and his ministry to challenge student athletes in their walk with Christ.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.