A Story of Lost and Found

The truth is that we cannot find ourselves. The reason so many of us feel disconnected from God and others is that we are trying to find ourselves. But we can't. The reality is that only God can find us. In fact, in Jesus Christ, God has taken the ultimate step to find His lost people. Have you been found?

This devotional contains the story of LIFE. The story of life simply put is that we are lost and can't find ourselves. But God can. Centuries before Jesus was born, God was at work to “find” His people. This devotional looks at the Old Testament individuals that God found. All of them together lead directly to Jesus Christ. Now in Jesus God's people have been found. That's something to celebrate!

I Kings 14:22-24; 15:3-4

Sunday, December 12

The Skin of Your Teeth

“ Abijah the father of Asa.”

There is an expression about people who are saved by the “skin of their teeth.” The biblical character, Job, once said that his health and despair was so bad that all he had left was the “skin of his teeth.” I don't know about you, but I don't have any skin on my teeth. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning it feels like I have skin on my teeth, but that's a different, grosser story that we don't need to think about now. Right now let's think about Abijah, David's great, great grandson. He is a man who needs some skin on his teeth in order to be saved.

Abijah is a king of Judah , from the house of David and is in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus. That is about the only good news we can give regarding this guy. All his deeds are evil as far as the Bible reports. He is, as the hard rocker George Thoroughgood would say, bad to the bone. Except for one thing that he has going for him: God had made a covenant with his great, great grandfather David.

From a human perspective one wouldn't think the covenant would be worth much by now. After all, each successive generation since David has grown worse. The arrogance and sin of David's descendants has caused a split in the nation of Israel . God's people now are divided between north and south. Idols and all forms of pagan worship abound. And Abijah sanctions it all. Why does God remain faithful in the midst of His people's unfaithfulness?

God does not leave sin unpunished. He is a God of love, but also a God of justice and wrath against sin. Israel pays a terrible price for their evil, but “for the sake of David” God will not destroy or reject His covenant promises. In the midst of all our changeableness, God does not change. He remains faithful. Generations after Abijah dies, God sends His son Jesus Christ to pay the ultimate price for His people's sinfulness. In Christ God finds all of His sinful children and redeems them. Has God found you? Call on the name of Jesus and be saved.

2 Chronicles 28:18-19:3

Monday, December 13

Unholy Alliances

“ Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram”

 When I was in the third grade I had a friend who did a terrible thing. He got mad at my older brother, Dan, and poured acid into Dan's newly built fish pond. I can't remember why my friend was mad, all I can remember is that the fish all died. Dan wasn't sure that my friend had done it but he suspected him. I told Dan that I wouldn't like my friend anymore if he had done this thing. Dan told me that if I could get my friend to confess, he would let me sit next to him on the bus instead of my friend. Well, to make a long story short, my friend not only confessed, he boasted to me about what he had done. But strangely, even though I had some good in me, I couldn't bring myself to leave his side to go sit by my brother. I made an unholy alliance.

Jehoshaphat has some good in him. That's what the prophet says. Yet, he can not bring himself to stay away from alliances with evil men like Ahab. Ahab is probably the most notoriously evil king of the northern kingdom of Israel . Yet, Jehoshaphat almost gets himself killed fighting alongside Ahab.

Jehoshaphat's whole kingship is an example of waffling between the right and the wrong thing. The Bible's word on him is that he did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” He had moments of great faith, prayer and fasting which result in miraculous deliverance (see 2 Chronicles 20:1-30). Yet, his alliance with Ahab was not the last evil alliance he made. He made an alliance with Ahab's wicked son, Ahaziah. Ultimately, the final word about his reign are words of punishment and destruction (see 2 Chronicles 20:35 -37). What a waste.

Whom do you align yourself with this Christmas? If you believe in Christ, God has found you for His righteousness. Align yourself with those whom God aligns Himself. Live in His righteousness.

2 Chronicles 26:3-15

Tuesday, December 14

A Great Start

“ Uzziah …”

 I love to watch a good start in swimming competitions. When swimmers get off to a good start, they get a good dive off the block entering the pool clean and smooth. By the time they surface they are already a stroke ahead of the other swimmers. In the opening yards of the race they lengthen their lead. The announcers grow excited as they note the fast pace. If the race is of a world class nature, we see the split time for the world record in the event displayed on the bottom of our screens. It is very exciting as one anticipates what the good start will lead to.

Uzziah not only gets off to a good start, he gets off to a great start. He comes out of the blocks young, hard and fast. He is a great king. In just a short fifteen-verse synopsis of his early career we read that he did right in the eyes of the Lord, was instructed in the fear of the Lord, and God gave him success. He destroyed enemy towns and rebuilt Judah 's towns. His fame spread and he was very powerful. He built towers and fortresses in Jerusalem and dug many cisterns in the desert. He had a strong, large and well-equipped army that extended the borders of the kingdom. His fame spread far and wide.

Uzziah's great start was precipitated by the covenant. That is, God found Uzziah through the covenant even before he was born. But it is Uzziah himself who acts in obedience and faithfulness to that covenant. Many of us also know the blessing of the covenant. We have been born into believing families or, at the very least, have access to a believing community and church. God has primed us for a great start. Will we, or did we, get off the blocks strong and fast? Are we swimming a good race for our Lord? Or are we dog paddling?

Uzziah's great start resulted in a great race as long as he sought the Lord. Are you seeking the Lord?

2 Chronicles 26:16-23

Wednesday, December 15

A Terrible Finish

“ Uzziah the father of Jotham”

God often blesses His people with a great start. For example, I was blessed with Christian parents and a Christian upbringing. From my earliest days I was surrounded by Bible stories, Bible songs, and Bible believing teachers and classmates. I don't remember a time when I didn't believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Like Uzziah I was born into the covenant. God found me even before I was born, and I knew it as soon as I was mentally able to understand such things.

Sometimes God appears to give individuals an impossible start. That is, He places them in an environment of apathy, evil or unbelief. One would think that such a person might never recover from such a start. But God in His grace often finds those who have been lost all their lives and grants salvation in the name of Jesus. God finds those with poor human starts and empowers them to have a great finish in Christ.

Tragically, Uzziah squanders his great start. In pride he begins to think that it is all about what he has done or what he wants to do. He finishes his life as a recluse, his body consumed by leprosy as a result of his sin. He finishes poorly. In fact, Uzziah, who could easily have the fame of a David or Solomon, is probably the most famous king of Israel that you have never heard of. He had a terrible finish.

How about you? In Christ God invites you to finish well. Will you finish well?

2 Chronicles 29:1-11

Thursday, December 16

Opening the Doors

“ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh”

Now I know that it is not always that simple. In fact, I could probably tell you more stories about closed doors, sticky doors, broken doors, and even padlocked doors than opened doors. Nevertheless, God will open doors when we are paying attention.

Hezekiah knows about opened doors. Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, had shut the doors to God's temple. Ahaz thought that he could determine how to find his own way as king. He figured that his doors were better than God's. Hezekiah knew better. Hezekiah had the good sense to open God's doors once again. All Hezekiah did was to open God's doors and walk in obedience to God's ways. He becomes a great king, the greatest king since the glory days of David and Solomon, simply because he knows what doors to open and what way to walk in.

Hezekiah didn't need to find God's doors or invent some new fangled way to walk in righteousness. All he needed to do was to walk through the doors God provided and follow His ways. The same is true for us today. Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Will we open the doors? Jesus says that He is the Way. Will we walk in the way? God has found the way of salvation for us. Will we believe?

2 Chronicles 36:15-31

Friday, December 17

Lost

“… the exile to Babylon .”

Toward the end of Matthew's genealogy of Jesus a strange thing happens. Instead of listing the name of a father, mother or son, Matthew tells of an event. This event is so disruptive to the Covenantal flow of God's grace that many who went through it thought that God had rejected His people forever. With the exile to Babylon it seems as if the Israelites are lost forever.

The truth is that the Israelites are lost. They got lost all by themselves through their reckless and repeated disobedience. They refused to stay on the way that God had provided for them through the law and the prophets. They tried to find themselves a way of escape in false gods and foreign powers, only to find themselves more lost than ever. Finally, God gives them over to their own ways and they are lost to the Babylonian captivity.

I sometimes hear today of people trying to find themselves a way of salvation. I hear people say that they are searching. I often hear that it really doesn't matter which way one turns to find salvation, as long as they are sincere. Each person, we are told, needs to find their own way. Well, as Colonel Potter of M*A*S*H would say, “Horse puckey!”

God has already found us. Through the law, the prophets, and ultimately through His Son, Jesus Christ, He has found us. If you are lost, here are your directions to be found: Believe on the name of Jesus Christ and be saved.

The Old Testament people of God spent 70 years of lost time. God wasn't lost, but they were. God isn't lost today either. Are you?

1 Chronicles 3:17

Saturday, December 18

A Father of Hope

“ Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel”

But there is hope. Shealtiel is a father. In fact, with the one exception noted above, every time Scripture refers to Shealtiel it is in reference to his son Zerubbabel. The line of David has not been destroyed. Taken captive, yes, but destroyed, no. There is hope.

Over and over again we have seen that in the midst of human failure God is at work to bring his success. God is not dependant on our success. He does not wait around for us to get it right. He has a salvation plan and He is bringing it to fruition through His deeply flawed and sinful people. Yes, He punishes sin. There are consequences for disobedience. Shealtiel, living in captivity, is living proof of those consequences. But Shealtiel's fatherhood is also living proof that God is not finished yet.

No matter what despair you may have in your life at this time, no matter what is holding you captive, and no matter how great and deep your sin may be, God is not defeated by your defeat. In Christ God has found His lost people. In Christ God has already found you. All that we must do is respond in repentance and faith. Call upon the name of Christ and be saved.