Daily Devotionals

When Pigs Fly Week 3: Thursday

When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair. 2 Kings 22:11

When we are confronted with our sin and mistakes, we have a choice to make: will we defend ourselves and refuse to acknowledge our wrongdoing, or will we admit where we went wrong and apologize? You have probably experienced that young children will defend themselves instead of taking responsibility. However, mature people will admit mistakes and take responsibility for their actions. Spiritually mature Christ-followers are called to repent from their sin, take responsibility for their actions, and move forward. 

2 Kings 22 tells us about a time when Josiah and the people of Israel were confronted with the sin they had committed as a nation. Part of Scripture had been uncovered by one of the High Priests at the time, Hilkiah. When Hilkiah read the Scripture to Josiah, Josiah "tore his clothes in despair" (verse 11). Josiah realized that they had not been living according to the words of Scripture, and He was devastated. He immediately set a plan in motion to have these words of Scripture taught to all of Israel. Although he was king, he was not afraid to admit where he and the people of Israel had fallen short. He acknowledged his and his people's shortcomings and turned straight to God. 

Like Josiah, we have a choice to make when we are confronted with our sins. Will we rationalize our sin, deny or sin, or will we confront our sin? Rationalizing and denying our sins will never get us far. After all, we can only rationalize and deny our sins for so long. Confronting and confessing them to God, however, leads to freedom. 1 John 1:9 says this: "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." When we are faithful to confess our sins and turn away from them, God will always offer His forgiveness.

Moving toward action

Take a few moments to think about your life. Is there any sin or behavior you need to repent from? Take it to God now. Tell Him you are sorry and ask Him to help you move forward so that you honor Him and obey Him in everything you do.

Going Deeper

2 Kings 22:8-13

"Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord's Temple!" Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it.

9 Shaphan went to the king and reported, "Your officials have turned over the money collected at the Temple of the Lord to the workers and supervisors at the Temple." 10 Shaphan also told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll." So Shaphan read it to the king.

11 When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair. 12 Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king's personal adviser: 13 "Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the Lord's great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do."