September 24, 2021 | I Kings 16

Read 1 Kings 16

Scripture- 1 Kings 16:2-3- “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins. 3 So I am about to wipe out Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat.”

Observation- Baasha made a mistake that so many people make. He didn’t learn from the past. Instead of wisely avoiding the same sins that Jeroboam did, he went ahead and committed the same ones. He didn’t learn from the past and so he repeated history. 

Application- Scripture spans over the course of thousands of years. As I open up the Bible and read it, I see account after account of how people sinned and made messes of their lives. These accounts are written down and recorded so that I learn from them and avoid their same sins. Unfortunately, as I look at my life, I often fall into the same sins. I fail to learn from the past thinking that I’m stronger and can handle more temptation than they could. The blessing of the Bible is that it is not just a book of lessons for me to apply to my life, but it’s also the message of God’s never-ending love that has saved me. I get to see how he sent his one and only Son to save me from my sin, death, and the devil. Because of his love, I want to learn from these accounts, I want to turn from sin, avoid temptation, and live for my Savior-God. 

Prayer- Lord God, thank you for your Word. Through it, I learn all about the past. I’m able to take those lessons and apply them to my life. Thank you for Jesus and the salvation you have won for me through him. His love and mercy motivate me to learn from the past and cling to you in the future. Amen.