Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – 1 Chronicles 29:10-25
Set – 1 Chronicles 29; Psalms 95
Go! – 1 Kings 2; 1 Chronicles 29; Psalms 95; 2 Thessalonians 1
1 Chronicles 29:10-25
10 he blessed the Eternal in a prayer before the assembly.David: You are blessed, O Eternal One,
God of Israel, our father, forever and ever.
11 All that is great and powerful and glorious and victorious and majestic
is Yours, O Eternal One.
Indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to You.
The kingdom belongs to You, O Eternal One, and You are the head of it all.
12 Wealth and glory come from You,
and You rule over them all.
In Your hand is power and strength,
and You use them to make great and strengthen everyone.
13 Because of your greatness, our God,
we testify about Your greatness and praise Your glorious name.
14 But who am I and who are my people
that we can offer up anything to You so willingly?
All our offerings come from You,
so we can give You nothing that isn’t already Yours.
15 For we are strangers before You, sojourners, as all our fathers were.
Our days on the earth are dark and temporary.
16 O Eternal One our God, we realize that all this abundance,
all that will build Your temple for Your holy name,
Is from Your hand already.
Everything is Yours.
17 O my God, You test the heart and delight when it is proven faithful,
so I, with an honest heart, have willingly offered all these things.
And now I have joyfully witnessed Your people, who are present here,
make their offerings willingly and joyously to You.
18 O Eternal One, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
sustain this purpose and thought
In the hearts of Your people forever
and guide their hearts to You.
19 Especially give to my son Solomon a perfect heart,
one that keeps Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your laws,
One that will do them all, and one that will build the temple,
for which I have made provisions.
20 (to the assembly) Now bless the Eternal One your God.Right then, the assembly obeyed David, blessing the Eternal, the God of their fathers, and bowed low in worship before the Eternal One and the king. 21 On the next day, they made sacrifices and burnt offerings to Him: 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs. They also gave abundant drink offerings and sacrifices for all Israel. 22 Then they ate and drank before the Eternal with great gladness, and they coronated Solomon (son of David) a second time, anointing him as ruler and Zadok as priest for the Eternal. 23 Then, for the first time, Solomon sat on the throne of the Eternal as king instead of his father David. Solomon prospered, and all Israel recognized him as their king. 24 All the officials, the warriors, and the other sons of King David pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. 25 The Eternal exalted Solomon as a great ruler before all Israel and gave him royal majesty greater than any king before him in Israel.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Something David recognized that many today don’t, or at least act like they don’t, is that everything is Mine. People hang on to things and hoard treasures like they belong to them instead of Me. But everything is Mine. I allow you to take care of some things for Me for a little while, but in the end, everything belongs to Me. It’s all Mine. From beginning to end, it’s all Mine.
I share things with you. I want you to enjoy the treasures the earth affords, but don’t hang on to anything too tightly. You can’t take anything with you and the events of life make the tangibles too insecure anyway. What can you hold in your hands that is really of value anyway? There is only one thing. Another human being.
Everything else is temporary and has limited, temporary value. Only another human being has eternal value. So when you hug another person or hold a baby in your hands you hold something of value. The relationship you build with people and with Me lasts forever. The things you try to hang on to disappear.
Think of the things you once thought so important to you when you were younger. Perhaps it was a new piece of furniture now battered and scarred by years of abuse by kids. Maybe it was that new car, traded many times over and probably demolished by now. Perhaps a wedding band, with designs long worn away. Precious, but it’s not the band, but the symbol of the relationship it stands for that is so important to you, not the band itself that really means so much to you.
You see, when you let go of all those tangible things, remembering they belong to Me, I often given them back to you to let you take care of them for Me for a while. But cling to the important things. Cling to your relationship with Me and other people. Those can last forever.
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