SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2025
2 CHRONICLES 16:12 “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.”
KEYWORD: God loves you and wants you to grow and thrive in Him. Only by humbling yourself will this become a possibility and then a reality.
It has become all too common to hear someone proudly, and even arrogantly, say, “I’m stubborn; I’m hard-headed; my mind is made up, and I won’t change it, even when I know I’m wrong.” What’s even more surprising is that both citizens and netizens of the kingdom often cheer on those who are set on a path of self-destructive stubbornness.
Some even shout, “You only live once,” embracing a reckless, dangerous lifestyle, rejecting wise counsel, and stubbornly choosing their own way. They prefer to reach the end of the rope before they reconsider, and some, having reached that point, still refuse to repent or reflect on their choices.
A clear case study is what we see in the opening scripture of today’s devotional. Here was a man who had erred, and then when he had his errors pointed out to him, he refused to accept it. What he never understood was that God, in pointing out his errors to him through the prophet Hanani, was calling him to repent and experience mercy and forgiveness. He remained hard-hearted and even when he was sick refused to turn to God for help that could have brought the healing and restoration he so sorely needed.
Being hard-hearted towards the Lord is never the way to go. The devil will encourage you to hold on stubbornly to pride and arrogance—two things that God despises, just to see that you are destroyed. Where have you erred and refused to accept correction from the Lord? What are you stubbornly refusing to let go of thinking that your personal pride matters more than God’s opinion and rebuke? It is time to let it go and seek mercy from the Lord. He will not turn you away. He is abundant in mercies and they are new every morning. Don’t hesitate any longer; God loves you and wants you to grow and thrive in Him. Only by humbling yourself will this become a possibility and then a reality. Glory to God!
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, please soften my heart today remove from me every atom of stubbornness and arrogance. I don’t want to reject You or what You are offering to me, Lord. Have Your way henceforth in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
2 CHRONICLES 33:12-13
“And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.”
2 CHRONICLES 33:23
“And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.”
