Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Even after this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who wanted to be priests he consecrated for the high places.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, November 1, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I find this mysterious “Man of God” intriguing. Why is he not named? Clearly he’s a prophet. And his story is pretty bizarre (I highly recommend you read the entire passage for today). In the end, after all he does and says and goes through, we read that Jeroboam didn’t learn his lesson. He saw the unwavering wrath of God in action—it was not spared even from this “man of God” who was actually deceived into violating God’s command. But, alas, Jeroboam learned nothing.
How many times in our own lives do we see the obvious signs of God’s presence and action (not wrath, which frankly, I do not believe God visits upon anyone ever) and yet continue to doubt or turn away or act in the polar opposite way it seems so blatantly obvious God is calling us to act? I know I have had times in my life when I just didn’t trust God to take care of me, and stubbornly clung to my own agenda, trying to take or keep control of something which was completely beyond me. Only to find, in the end, that letting go completely and letting God be God was the only way to resolve what I was convinced was solely up to me. How many times in our own lives are we Jeroboam?
Luckily—mercifully—God is patient with us. God isn’t in any hurry to force us to follow God’s will. God just provide the opportunities and ample evidence of God’s grace-filled presence, and waits for us to take the indicated action. May God help me—and all of us—to let go sooner. Life is so much simpler when I do.
What signs of God’s presence in my life have I observed? Do I still turn away from God when I want outcomes to go a certain way?
