“As for the other events of ______’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?”
Boy oh boy, do you want to read lots of drama? Go get your hands on the book of annals of the kings of Judah (wherever they may be). The words mentioned above are scattered throughout the book of Kings. After almost each king died these words were written.
You get going in reading about the good, the bad, and the ugly that happened during a certain king’s reign, then all of a sudden he dies and then it says, “…are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?” I can just imagine all the stories those books hold.
Today I was reading about the great things King Hezekiah had done as he “…walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in Your eyes.” (This was part of his prayer to God as he was lying on his death bed.). Then later, he passed away and his son succeeded him as king. This son did not faithfully and with wholeheartedness do well in the eyes of the Lord. Oh, no. Checkout his resume’:
“He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.” 2 Kings 21:2-6
They just didn’t get it! This type of scenario happened over and over again in the bible. Why not learn from others’ mistakes and history?
I can recall a conversation I read years ago between Lindsay Lohan and a magazine. What I remember her saying was “I want to make my own mistakes and learn from them.” I thought, “Why? Why not learn from others.” When I did a little research and Googled that Lohan conversation, she did go further and say that doing so isn’t necessarily the best way to go. True that.
Yes, we will make mistakes, and plenty of them, but if someone else has experienced something and it didn’t turn out so well, why not not take that road ourselves. Learn from others and their misfortunes so you can become a better person.
Yikes! If there were a book of annals from the life of Stephanie, it might be a little terrifying for me to review some of those mistakes. But, there have been some great deeds done too that would make me feel like I’d done well.
For me, when I’ve made those ridiculous mistakes, I have definitely learned from them and have changed my ways. When I read about some of those kings, like Hezekiah’s son, Menassah, I just shake my head and say, “Really? You didn’t learn a thing. The only thing you’ve learned is how to dig your pit deeper and deeper and take others down with you.”
So, I guess my point here for us all is to:
- make sure we think before we do and speak
- learn from others
- learn from our own past
- What if there was a book of annals recording your life? What would you want others to read?
Have a great day.
It’s time for me to go soak up some of God’s glory while soaking in the Florida sun.
July 6
Just another day in paradise.