Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Faith
That Has To Be Enriched
Gabriella John
St. Peter’s MTC,
NJ
4 Jehoash said to
the priests, “All the money offered as sacred donations that is brought into
the house of the Lord, the money for
which each person is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the
money from the voluntary offerings brought into the house of the Lord, 5 let the priests receive from each of the donors; and let them
repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.”
It is easy for our Christian lives to become very routine-like; we
become too comfortable, dormant, and lazy. We see a similar pattern of dormancy
and laziness in the rebuilding of the Temple of Judah (2 King 12:1-6). King
Solomon had originally built the Temple during his reign with the best
materials available, yet with time it began to decay. The temple was vandalized
by Athaliah and her sons as seen in 2 Chronicles 24:7 “For the sons of
Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also
presented all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals”. It
was clear to the people and the rulers that renovations were necessary for this
sacred place. At the time of renovation, King Jehoash had reigned over the
land. The rebuilding process was very slow and expensive. In Chapter 24 we see
that the workers eventually “abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their
fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols” (v 18). In a similar manner we
ourselves need to be rebuilt and renewed by the blood of Christ. However,
unlike the workers, we cannot give up or become lazy. The Bible defines this
sort of dormant behavior as being a lukewarm Christian. At one point or another
we find ourselves compromising our values with the world, not sharing our faith
with others, lacking a desire for Christ, unwilling to make sacrifices for
Christ, and believing we will be saved just by attending Church services every
Sunday. The Bible warns us about living as lukewarm Christian— “I know your
deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the
other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you
out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15). During his rule, the King was right in the
sight of the Lord by following the careful and wise instructions of the priest,
Jehoiada. Yet after the death of the Priest, Jehoash fell into the temptations
of the world as seen in 2 Chronicles 24:15-23. As Christians we must be active in
faith. We must be well rooted in the Word and seek Christ every day. This does
not mean just reading the Bible and closing it afterwards. The Word must change
our hearts and behaviors so that they reflect Christ. Just as 2 Corinthians
5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The
old has gone, the new is here”.
PRAYER
Lord, help us to be a better servant for You, that we
may take the initiative to go deeper into Your Word and live by Your Truth.
Teach us how to be active in our faith and help us to be renewed and
transformed by Your Word. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our
Lord and Savior. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Do we find our Christian walk to be one that is dormant
and routine like? Let us be encouraged and challenged today to
“rebuild” ourself to be an active disciple of God through living by His Word!