July 20

2 Chronicles 1:1-3:17, Romans 6:1-23, Psalm 16:1-11,Proverbs 19:20-21

Pray: The prayer today from David has a very humble tone to it that I think we can learn from, he says in verse two “ I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” This prayer reminds me of what James says later in the New Testament when he says, “every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” I pray Lord that we can remember today that every good thing in our life comes from You and You alone.

Read: The reading today in 2 Chronicles is a famous passage that shows us the value of wisdom. God appears to Solomon and says, “Ask what I shall give you.” If God were to appear to you and ask you for anything what would be your response? Solomon doesn’t ask for wealth or status, or the life of another or even his own life to be longer, he asks for wisdom. What is interesting is that when Solomon asks for wisdom from God all of the other things were added to him as well. This is a reminder to us that our first priority should be to know the Lord and He will sustain us and give us all that we need.

Edify: Paul encourages us to remember the reality of our fight with sin in Romans. Paul refers to our sin nature as “our old self” and he goes on to say that when Jesus was crucified it was as if our old self was also nailed to the cross. Putting our sin nature to death is a daily process and if we are like Christ in crucifying our old nature then we are also like Jesus in His resurrection. We don’t have to live like slaves to sin because Jesus set us free; He broke the chains of our sin. Imagine a slave wanting to run back into slavery and put his shackles back on once he has been set free! This is the imagery that Paul wants us to see as we consider falling into sin once we have been made a new creation with Christ.

Practice: Let us consider the ways today that we can gain wisdom. It is foolish to continue to do the same old things expecting different results. It may be that God is calling us to try something new in regards to our relationship with Him. Maybe it’s a new book, a new way to serve or a different attitude towards someone in your life. Try something new for Jesus today that takes you outside of your comfort zone.