Day 227

Jeremiah 51:15-58; 2 Chronicles 3:6-10; 2 Kings 24:10-17; 1 Chronicles 3:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:11-14; Jeremiah 52:1-3; 2 Kings 24:18-20; Jeremiah 37:1-10

Stephanie James, Children & Young Families

There was a lot of page turning today and a plethora of awesome names. My favorite name from today is Nebuchadnezzar–a great name, and fortunately for my children we did not name one of them with it!

I love to boil things down and get a great nugget to apply to my life. After reading these passages several times, I walked away with the word “consequences.” There are consequences for our actions. Consequences for letting the evil one in, as King Zedekiah choose to do. But somehow we humans don’t really think the consequences will hit us. We think that somehow we can avoid them or maybe that they don’t apply to us. Little ones do it all the time. Children are willing to gamble. If they can get that candy, or go to bed later or whine enough to get something, they will give it a shot and do it while it works. We adults are the same. But there always are consequences for our disobedience. They might not be immediate but they come.

In Jeremiah 52:3 it says, “It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah and in the end he thrust them from his presence.”
In Jeremiah 51:15 it says “He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.” God is all powerful. He loves us and He wants us to listen to Him. He desires a relationship, and no matter our choices or our disobedience, He loves us. His consequences for our actions are not necessarily punishment, but for a chance for us to grow in our character and learn to obey him more completely.

For this I am super grateful for considering my kids and I have a lot in common!
Lord help me to keep the little things in check so that they don’t turn into big things. I pray that I continue to rely on You in all things and remember that You love me no matter what. Amen.