Daily D – 2 Chronicles 33:15-16 | Matthew 3:8
2 Chronicles 33:15, 16 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.
Matthew 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
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The evidence proving a person has made a transformational change includes a resolute break from the choices and patterns that once characterized his or her lifestyle. As John the Baptist put it, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Manasseh had a lot of repenting to do. He had a lot of fruit to produce to overcome all the evil he had created and led others to participate in. Read 2 Chronicles 33. If you are loyal to God, you will hate what you see here. Turn to 2 Kings 21:16 and read these damning words:
Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Manasseh was warned. Verse 10 says, “The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings,” (New Living Translation).
Verse 11 tells us Manasseh was taken prisoner. A hook was placed in his nose. He was bound with bronze shackles and exiled to Babylon. Verse 12 tells us what happened next:
and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.
If God can transform Manasseh, he can transform you. Verses 15 and above tell us how Manasseh proved his repentance. Some keywords from these verses are removed, restored, sacrificed, and serve.
Repentance leads us to remove the sinful patterns of our lives. Repentance restores broken trust and wounded relationships. Repentance sacrifices the self-centered behaviors of the past in exchange for a special future of God’s good gifts. Repentance leads to service that honors God and blesses others.
Manasseh finished well.
George Eliot is credited with saying, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” Manasseh demonstrates this truth. Will you? How well will you finish? Since most of us do not know our expiration date, today is a good day to become what we might have been.
Today is a good day for personal transformation by God’s grace and in his mercy. Pray like Manasseh. Repent like Manasseh. Change your lifestyle like Manasseh. Finish well like Manasseh. Tomorrow may well be too late. Today is God’s perfect timing.
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I will live a transformed life by God’s grace and in his mercy.
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Our Father, I want to be all you ever hoped I would be. Deliver me from the sin habits of my past. Restore me. Rebuild the broken places. Lead me into selfless service. Amen.
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