March 08, 2005
Katie and Matt, Al and Ann
Listening to some indie music makes you hate music... Well, almost.
If I want to accomplish a lot of stuff at work, do you know what I need to do? I need to put off reading email until a certain time (like noon or the end of the day). This is very hard to do, because I think, 'I wonder what's waiting for me in my inbox?' Or, 'Did so and so answer that question?' But, if I actually sit down and go through my inbox, it'll eat up two hours just like that. it stinks.
Okay, enough random thoughts. On to the Bible commentary. In 2 Chronicles 12, we see King Rehoboam receive some mercy. Jerusalem was being attacked by Shishak, the king of Egypt. Jerusalem was going to fall. The prophet Shemaiah told him that, "You have abandoned me (sayeth the Lord); therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak." The leaders of Israel and the king wisely humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is just." When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, He delivered them. What a great example of mercy.
A couple chapters earlier we see Rehoboam make a stupid mistake -- he followed his friends' advice rather than that of the elders. I remember one nugget of truth from the 17-page f-word rant letter that Roger Martinez foolishly sent out to people on his mailing list, many of them young teenagers, I'm sure. But one thing he said makes sense. He related a story about his wife wanting him to hang out with another young leader at a pastor's lunch or something. He argued and protested that he wanted to hang around those with grey hair, for they were the ones with wisdom. (if I can comment here, both had good points. One was about receiving wisdom; and the other was about imparting or sharing wisdom. One was trying to get her husband to mentor a young man; and one was trying to get mentored by an older man...) Anyway, Rehoboam should've listened to the elders, who advised him to treat the people with mercy. Instead he followed his friends' advise of, "Show 'em who's king!" The people ended up splitting the kingdom (12 tribes). What a mistake.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 8, 2005 09:02 AM