Devotion:
Read 2 Chronicles 7:8-14.
The setting for this Scripture passage is majestic. The building of the temple in Jerusalem had been completed and this was the day of dedicating it to God. King Solomon was there. Leaders from all over Israel were there. And we can only imagine how many people attended. There was much “pomp and circumstance” as we say about such occasions. Hey, the band had 120 trumpets in it!
Solomon offered a prayer to God, acknowledging that though no place on earth could fully contain God, but also asking God to dwell in that place and listen to the prayers of the people in that place. The verses we read today are part of God’s response to that prayer. God appeared to Solomon later and let him know that when the difficult times come because of sin “...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Note that the first condition God seeks from us is humility. Sadly, that is the condition too often lacking in God’s people as we relate to the rest of the world. Too often, we are defensive, judgmental and unwilling to confess our own sins, seeking only to point out the sins of others. However, we are reminded here that when we are willing to be humble, to turn from those ways and seek to relate to others by God’s way (revealed to us most fully in Jesus Christ), God will heal us, heal our relationships with others and heal our land.
Let us pray for that healing, renewed in our commitment to learn God’s ways, so that God will bless not only America, but the whole world.
Personal Worship Option:
Join us this morning, either in person or online, as we worship God with great music and I share a message titled “America’s Stars And Stripes.” Then join us again this afternoon for a patriotic celebration entitled “One Nation Under God.”
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