Sunday, July 30
“If not…”
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33-34, Revelation 2
2 Chronicles 33:12–13 In his pain Manasseh asked the Lord his God for mercy and truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.13 When he prayed to the Lord, the Lord responded to him and answered favorably his cry for mercy. The Lord brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.
Revelation 2:5 Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent! Do the deeds you did at the first; if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—that is, if you do not repent.
Revelation 2:16 Therefore, repent! If not, I will come against you quickly and make war against those people with the sword of my mouth.
Observation
Repent! If not, you will suffer the consequences.
This is the message to three of the four churches in Revelation 2. They are called to repent, then warned: “if not,” here’s what will befall you. Your lampstand will be removed (your church will die); God will make war with you (!); God will strike you will illness, suffering and disease (another !).
What about grace? Manasseh was one of Judah’s worst kings—he was horrible. Yet when he humbled himself and repented, the Lord showed him mercy. Amazing grace.
But don’t miss the sequence: grace follows humility and repentance. Once again, from yesterday: God opposes the proud and shows favor to the humble (1 Peter 5:5, James 4:6).
God gives grace (favor) to the humble. But to those who refuse to repent: “if not…”
Application
I thought of a dear friend who is committing adultery but wants all of us to forgive and extend grace…while he continues in adultery. I thought of him as I read this…
Then I thought of me. Where am I being stubborn? Proud? Selfish? Where do I need to humble myself and repent? I thought of several areas—most notably related to Revelation 2:4 “you have left your first love.” This could mean our love for Jesus or people, or both. It could mean first in terms of time (our early love) or first in terms of priority (our most important love), or both. I thought all of it was true of me—that my love for Jesus and for people feels low right now, and I never want that to be the case.
So…I’m repenting. I’m turning to God and asking Him to renew my love for Him and others. And I’m asking if there is anything else He’d like me to change, because “if not…”
Prayer: Lord I love You. I’m grateful for Your grace and I also take Your holiness seriously. I never want to trade on Your grace and treat it cheaply. Help me to keep humbling myself, repenting, renewing my love for You.