Read today’s texts first: Judges 19-21; 2 Corinthians 4
MAXIMize YOUR DAY
Learn to pray like Elijah:
Open my eyes to see the unseen world.
The depths of human depravity was so bad in Noah’s day that God had to purge the world. But the flood could not wash away man’s sin (“nothing but the blood”). During this era of the judges, the sin of the heathen nations had completely corrupted God’s people. Our reading today includes homosexuality, rape, violence against women, murder, vengeance, civil war - all between Israelites! Can it get much worse?
Unfortunately the answer is yes. Turn on the news tonight and you will see some of the deepest, darkest sins of human history. The words of Jesus are coming true before our eyes: as it was in the days of Noah so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37). It’s hard to watch!
But our NT reading gives us hope - something else to look at! When we feel overwhelming despair by what we see around us …do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (4:16-18). We need the eyes of Elijah who saw past the surrounding army of Aram, who had come to kill him, to the much bigger army of God, riding on chariots of fire, surrounding Aram’s army (2 Kings 6:15-17).
“Lord, I pray Elijah’s prayer for me - open my eyes to see the unseen world. Today, I want to see what You see - how You are at work above and beyond the circumstances that surround me!”
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