Today’s Devotion
Topic: What It Means To Know God
Text: Jeremiah 22: 15c, 16b.
“He did what was right and just, SO ALL WENT WELL WITH HIM. … Is that not what it means to know me?” Amen
Precious One, Josiah was a good king. He feared God and walked according to His statues. His son Shallum succeeded the throne but not with the heart of his father. He even abandoned his duties as shepherd of Israel to pursue selfish adventures that fulfilled his fantasy.
But you know that nothing is ever hidden from the bright eyes of the Lord. He warned through Jeremiah saying: “11 this is what the Lord says about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. 12 He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.” 13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labour.”
“14 He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.’ So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red. 15 “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.”
“16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.”
“18 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim (or Shallum) son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: 19 He will have the burial of a donkey — dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.” (Jer 22: 11- 18a, 19).
Beloved, those of us who claim to know the Lord, must necessarily act and speak with a pure heart just like Him. He is righteousness and love, and we have to demonstrate the same in all our conduct, speech and thought. King Josiah did this and ALL WENT WELL WITH HIM.
His son Shallum also claimed to know the Lord but set out to build his palace by unrighteousness and injustice. Exploiting his people without pay for his selfish interest. His eyes and heart were only set on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression. Therefore the Lord decreed that there will be no mourning of him in death. Rather, He will have THE BURIAL OF A DONKEY.
Precious One, today marks the beginning of a new month. Meditate on this word and begin to pray now. Ask for a heart that seek to please the Lord always. For “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6: 8). Now that’s what it means to know the Lord.
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