“Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed everything that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:11-14 NASB)
How many times in your life have you received multiple pages of instructions when you picked up your medicine and you discarded them, just focusing on how many pills you were told to take? You did not read all those pages. And what about the times when you ordered a piece of furniture online and you had to put it together? Inside the box that your new item was packaged, there was a booklet that showed the various steps that you were to take in putting your new furniture together. Instead of reading “all these pages,” you depended on your ability to figure things out and you put it together. Once assembled, you had extra parts, and it seemed to be leaning to one side or the other. Oh, I know you and your competitive spirit! You just glanced at the instructions at the top of the Multiple-Choice section of your exam in order that you could beat your fellow classmates. The only problem was that the instructions specified to circle the top two answers and not just the best answer, which you just assumed was what you were supposed to do. In all these scenarios, things did not come out right. The problem was not with pharmacy, the manufacturer, or the teacher. But what about the failure to read it all? Maybe that was the problem.
Over the last couple of years, we have persistently prayed to God, petitioning the Almighty to rid us of the pestilence we call the pandemic. We do that faithfully. But yet it persist. As I watched the morning news, new that usually starts with bad reports on things that occurred in our community, the negativity of political affairs at all levels, damaging weather or predicted storms, and news regarding supply chain problems, I thought about the passage above, particularly verse 14, one recited by church folk for as long as I can remember in my life. I concluded that our problems are prevailing, maybe because we just read the part about praying. Not as much emphasis is placed on changing our behaviors; repenting, turning from our wicked ways. Why do our problems and pestilence continue? It could be related to our failure to read all the verse, respond to it personally, and reach out to others. Failure to read, maybe that’s the problem, or at least at the root of the problem.
In the focal text above, Solomon had finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace. But that was not enough. Solomon had done all that he planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. But that was not enough. Solomon had heard God dictate the purpose of the temple. But that was not enough. Solomon heard God describe what He was capable of doing in verse 13. But that was not enough. In verse 14, the first clause, the most repeated part of that verse says, “…and My people who are called by name humble themselves and pray.” It must be that too many people in this world are stopping at the point and not reading further. Maybe that’s the problem. I wonder what would happen if the world would pay attention to the last part of verse 14, “…and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and heal the land.” Failure to read it all; maybe that’s the problem.
Let’s individually respond accordingly and let us reach out to others by sending this meditation to as many people as we can. Ask them to do the same. Let’s make a difference my friend starting right now! Have a wonderful Saturday, look forward to worship service tomorrow, but be sure to play it forward today by sharing this message. Tip: When you read the closing verses, think of “your people” as a replacement for “Israel.” Be blessed!
“Then he said to me: Human one, eat this thing that you’ve found. Eat this scroll and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. He said to me: Human one, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate it, and in my mouth, it became as sweet as honey. Then he said to me: Human one, go! Go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. You aren’t being sent to a people whose language and speech are difficult and obscure but to the house of Israel.” (Ezekiel 3:4-5 Contemporary English Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King