Day 169

2 Kings 12:17-13:11, 14-25; 2 Chronicles 24:23-27.  “Why Fear God?”

“Have no fear, have no fear, said the cat in the hat.”  I read that line today at lunch in the book I was reading to my daughter.  As I was reading it, I thought about our theme this week and the subsequent mess that the cat in the hat made.  Fortunately for the children in the story, the cat cleaned up his mess, but life doesn’t always play out like a Dr. Seuss book.
Today we read about more kings over God’s people that made one mess after the other.  The idolatry they allowed showed a total lack of fear towards the LORD.  What do we see as a result of this lack of fear?  We see the consequence of incurring God’s judgment.  Both Joash, king of Judah (2 Chr. 24:24), and Jehoahaz, king of Israel (2 Kings 13:2-3), invited God’s judgment on their people because they didn’t fear God and practiced idolatry.  
So why should we fear God?  We fear God because He is the one who judges our actions (Eccl. 12:13-14).  We fear God because of the consequences that result when our actions invite His judgment.

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?