As some of you have seen, I have hired on my oldest daughter Ashley as my executive assistant. Some of you have received emails from her. She will be doing a lot my day to day tasks to free me up for more content creation, coaching, etc. She is a very welcome addition to Monument.
As for my health, I have been getting stronger and stronger. I will see my cardiologist today to see what all I can do to continue to strengthen my heart. I plan to get back to my travel schedule in April. Thank you all again for your prayers. Please pray that I don’t go back into Atrial Fibrillation again. And that I can pick up on any signs and symptoms that need addressed. As I look back, there were definitely things that should have triggered me to go to the doctor. But as an old baby boomer, the adage, “If you ignore it, it will go away,” pervaded my mind, and I essentially got used to my declining condition.
And that leads me to where I am reading in my first time through the Bible. I just finished 2 Chronicles. Judah had been going downhill for a long time. There were some kings who tried to get things back in line, like Hezekiah, but when a new king began to reign, they would go back to their idolatry. When Josiah began to reign, his advisors had him begin a cleansing process to try to get back to the practicing of the law. In his 18th year as king, he began the temple repairs. It had declined into disuse and misuse, and was generally a mess inside and out.
As they cleaned out the rubbish, the secretary found the Book of the Law. He began to read it, then took it to Josiah and read it to him. This caused great concern and anxiety, and Josiah had them inquire of a prophetess to see if this was really what God commanded. Because if so, “great is His wrath against us.”
It was true. But because of Josiah’s heart, God said He wouldn’t bring the disaster in his lifetime. Josiah spent much of the rest of his reign cleaning up Judah and Israel. The people seemed very pleased with the reforms, and their focus became the law and temple worship. But, as per God, it was really too late for them already. And as soon as Josiah died, they started very quickly back into their life of sin and idolatry. And within about 10 years, they were being taken captive by Babylon.
How did they get so far gone? It begins by ignoring what was clearly before them. The High Priest and the priesthood was supposed to instruct the people in the ways of God. The king was supposed to write the book of the covenant as soon as he started to reign, and then a number of times after that. However, since the people were by nature sinners, the priests and kings would falter. Once you start doing that, it becomes easier the next time. Over the years and decades, ignoring the law became the norm. Sure, they would go through the motions of morning and evening sacrifice, and there were certain ceremonies they would keep, but it was just empty formalism. They also set up other “gods” to worship as well, thinking that they could do this alongside worship of the LORD. But God is an exclusive God. We are to worship Him alone.
I am amazed at how they fell. And as the consequences mounted up, and then another king would reinstitute the law and things got better, how could the king’s sons not see this? But then I look at my medical symptoms. And me being a nurse, how could I miss these? I thought I could handle it all on my own. I thought I knew best. And herein lies the issue. We are fallen creatures in a fallen world. It is impossible for us to, on our own, know best.
The only way is to know God, be known by God, and to make Him known. And to do that, we need to read His Word. If we are to test all things in light of Scripture, maybe, just maybe, we should read it. And not just once, but over and over. As I do this, I find new perspectives in what I read. It’s the same words, but the applications are endless. I cannot encourage you enough to read through the Bible completely in one year. You don’t have to go through twice like I am doing.
In the Launch Program I am instituting, there will be a lot of reading. Six books to be exact. But I will also have the students read through the whole Bible in 8 months. And we will discuss what we read each time we meet, both the books and the Bible. I believe that this is that important. If you haven’t started yet, there is no time like the present. You have plenty of time to read through the whole Bible still this year. You will not regret it.
Amen
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