For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Eph. 6
Consider the pieces of “the armor of God” and how each one can help you “take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” “Therefore put on the full armor of God” (Eph. 6:13a). Notice that is an action statement. Paul did not say, “we have” or, “wear”. He said, “put on”. That indicates deliberate, intentional action. It is something we need to consciously do every single day.
So why is it we need to put on God’s armor? Because, Paul tells us, we cannot stand against the evil we face on our own. It isn’t a fair fight. Flesh and blood stands no chance against spiritual powers. God’s mighty power, however, conquers all. So we need to find our strength in Him, relying on His power. Putting on the armor of God, then, becomes a conscious act of acknowledging our need for God to help us live life differently, following God’s example in Christ so that we can stand firm against the powers that seek to destroy us by pulling us away from God.
1 Kings 15-16
Contrast the hearts of Abijah and his son Asa, and the results of their reigns. What lessons can you draw from the parade of evil kings in Israel? Many of the kings of Israel, including Jeroboam, the first king, were given the kingdom by God’s hand. As with both Saul and David, God brought them up out of nothing and set them on the throne. With the exception of David, every single one of them forgot where they came from and how they got where they were.
We saw the same thing with the Israelites as a whole when God rescued them from Egypt. It didn’t take long at all before they were complaining against God, looking back to what they had before, and worshipping other things. As far as I know, Saul didn’t blatantly turn to other gods. However, he still went his own way rather than humbly following God. And Jeroboam completely replaced all that God had established with his own “copycat” system. Not one of the kings who followed him made any attempt to return to God.
However the rebellion manifested in each case, every one of these failings was caused by people going their own way instead of God’s. It’s easy to sit and read these stories and see the foolishness of it. God’s power and sovereignty are obvious, as are the destructive results of going one’s own way. Yet our flesh still stubbornly refuses to see it. All of us, in big and small ways, suffer from the same foolish pull to our own desires and plans and the same destructive disregard for God. So much so that even a man like David slipped, strayed, and stumbled from time to time.
This all takes me right back to Paul’s words in Ephesians. We need to know our God and to be mindful daily of His unfathomable love for us. With that motivation, we then need to actively put on the character of God, finding strength in His power to stand firm. That is how we will be able to follow God’s example and live life differently; to be a David in a world full of people going their own way.
Prov. 13
Pick your favorite proverb from this chapter and share it with someone you know could benefit from this bit of wisdom. “Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.” (Pr. 13:6). One definition of the word, Integrity, is, “the state of being whole and undivided”. King David had integrity because he was wholehearted – undivided in his devotion to God. It is interesting that Paul referred to righteousness as a breastplate in his armor analogy. When we seek to be wholeheartedly devoted to God, His righteousness will guard our hearts against the wickedness that seeks to tear us away to our destruction. Isn’t it great how the whole Bible works together to give us the same truth?