In addition to regular articles, I regularly post some simple SOAP journals that were produced during a regular small group gathering to read, journal, pray, and encourage one another. These are not exhaustively studied as they are generally the work of 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing, and 20 minutes of sharing with each other what we have written. Whether we are Christian leaders or new believers, this collective approach to Bible journaling is encouraging.
- Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today?
- Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
- Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
- Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?
S = 2 Chronicles 29:1-3, 17-18
Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash
“Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old… And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them…
“They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils.”
O = Hezekiah was fairly young when he
became king—how many 25-year-olds could be trusted to make wise and godly
decisions? Yet Hezekiah did…and he started by removing the obstacles to
wholehearted worship of the One True God. He did not need the first 100 days of
his administration to decide what reforms to propose. On the first day of the first month, he did what was in his power. In our culture, many cannot
wait until they are 16 so that they can drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink, and 25
to finally rent a car. Hezekiah became king and right away challenged the priests and
Levites to stand up and clean out the filth and false gods that were literally clogging the
temple courts (v.11).
Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord,
the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My
sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to
stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make
offerings to him.”
It took eight days for the large group of workers just to reach the front porch of the temple (v.17) and another eight days to clean out the temple itself. It had become an unholy hoarder’s house of idolatry rather than a place of true worship. After 16 days they finished the work and began to repent and covenant with the Lord with a massive sin offering. It seems that they recognized that it was not just the sins of their fathers that were the problem, but their own sins as well. They had to first consecrate themselves, then the house of the Lord, and finally the people.
Photo by Lucia Sorrentino
on Unsplash
A = How often do we think about our complicity in “the sins of the fathers?” Our Western philosophy is individualistic in the extreme and does not fit with a biblical worldview that tends to see us all as connected. What can we do about the sins of the past? We can confess and stop doing them, consecrate ourselves, and together start the dirty work of clearing out the filth—from our hearts, from our families, from our churches, from our society. Is there some way in which we have devalued the worship of the Lord? Does our heart and life look like a hoarder’s house—unable to repent of and renounce the socially acceptable yet clogging sins of laziness, gluttony, self-indulgence, love of money, dishonesty, etc.? What could we clean out this week as the Holy Spirit leads and empowers?
P = O Lord, I
confess my sin and the sins of my fathers even in this land of plenty. We have
not followed you with an undivided heart. We have not treated all people justly;
we have not been as thankful for your care as we should have been. O Lord, forgive us! May we never allow our hearts to grow cold
and our relationship with you our Savior to fall into disuse (like the temple
in Ahaz’s day). May we be as available and committed to you and as privileged to
be a part of the sudden change you want to bring into our midst, as Hezekiah
was. O Lord, please empower us with
your Holy Spirit even today! Amen.
