Day 246: Better Late Than Never

John 19:16-42; 2 Chronicles 30; Psalm 86

"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" was written on his cross in three languages for all to see. Even as he was dying, people were finding out who Jesus was. Pilate refused to change it when the priests asked about it and so the declaration was made. All people would have been able to read it since it was in the languages of the times and locations. Jesus was for everyone and Pilate's charge made it possible for people to get who he was, even as he was dying.

Another striking moment in this story is when Joseph from Arimathea comes to take care of the body. He had kept his faith a secret up until this point because he was afraid. So what made him come forward now? He might have thought that since Jesus died, there was nothing more to be afraid of, as in, none of what he had said could have been true. That's why the disciples hid until they witnessed Jesus. Or, it could have been that he realized that Jesus laid down his life for his friends and that he was a truly good man, perhaps even the Christ, as he said. Whether noble or not, it is hard to tell what his motivation was, but none the less, he came forward and acted according to his faith. In light of Jesus' sacrifice for me, I need to do the same: step out and make my discipleship known.

Hezekiah led a revival! And it was a success! People were worshipping and celebrating, God blessed his people, and everyone was happy. However, there were some issues, like when the message of the celebration was going out, some people "laughed and insulted" the messengers for what they were saying. They were unwilling to humble themselves and return to The Lord. Same thing happens today. Others didn't go through the ceremony to be clean but worshipped anyway. This was against God's Law. But Hezekiah offered up a prayer on their behalf and God spared them. These little hiccups did not stop or hinder the celebration. Hezekiah knew that the people needed time to return to God; he gave them an extra week and extra sacrifices and many continued to worship. This is a wonderful model for us and our faithfulness. When we fall away, no time is too late to turn back. They were celebrating the Passover a month late, but it didn't matter to God, he was just glad he could bless his people again.

All of psalm 86 is awesome, but especially verses 11-13:
"Teach me to follow you, and I will obey your truth. Always keep me faithful. With all my heart I thank you. I praise you, Lord God. Your love for me is so great that you protected me from death and the grave."

God is good and his love for us is unending. The first part of verse 11 is truly important and I have been learning the significance of it: we need to be taught how to follow The Lord; it doesn't just come naturally. Our nature of sin wants to rule us but God can teach us his ways. How does he teach us those things? Through daily reading of scripture and our tough circumstances. I feel like each day I am learning and growing, and now that I am being taught by The Lord, the call is that I will obey. That's sometimes hard to do. But there is scripture in John 15 that talks about how obedience is the sign that we love Jesus. If we won't obey, then we don't really love him. A simple, but hard truth. God, teach us your ways so that we can walk in obedience.