Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, November 1, 2019
by R. Fergus Moir, Clergy Stuff
Rehoboam and Jeroboam each ruled a portion of what had once been a united Israel. Rehoboam had been Solomon’s heir. Northern Israel rebelled against him and sent him packing down to Jerusalem, to what became the kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam then ruled over what remained of the kingdom of Israel. It might be nice to think that one of these kings was in the “right” and other was in the “wrong.” Sadly, they were both rotten, and both turned their respective people away from God.
Nothing has changed. War still rages around the world, and each side of every conflict believes they’re the ones who are in the “right.” And they’re not. People in positions of power just want to keep that power, whatever the cost in human lives and environmental destruction.
When I find myself in conflict, furious at something someone else has said or done, I have to ask myself: are they really “wrong?” Am I really “right?” Or is there something I’m clinging to, some selfish desire or egotistical belief, that has contributed to the conflict? The answers is nearly always (and I mean 99.999999…% of the time) “Yes.” Knowing this, it is up to me to humbly make peace with that person, lest I continue in the long tradition of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
Where has my own selfishness led to conflict? Is there someone I need to make peace with today?
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