Today’s Reading:
Read II Kings 18:1-8; II Chronicles 30; 31:20-21; Psalm 48
Start today with a quick review. Ask, “Who was King when Isaiah was the prophet God chose to share His message? What kingdom – the Northern Kingdom or the Southern Kingdom- was Isaiah prophesying mostly to?” (Answers- Hezekiah and the Southern Kingdom)
II Kings 18:1-8 gives us a brief description of all that Hezekiah did in his reign as King of Judah. Our reading in II Chronicles highlights more of the specifics of what he did. Hezekiah followed God and he kept the commands the Lord had given to Moses. While Hezekiah was king of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, he watched the Northern Kingdom, Israel, fall and he saw what happened because of the people rejecting God and His word. Hezekiah wanted to bring the nations back to God.
Hezekiah didn’t just want to bring the Southern Kingdom back to God, he wanted to unite the kingdoms. He invited the people left in the Northern Kingdom after the fall to join the Southern Kingdom as they observed Passover and re-opened the temple. Hezekiah removed the idols from the high places, and he renewed proper worship in the temple.
Read Psalm 48:9
God, within your temple, we contemplate your faithful love.
Hezekiah worked to turn the people of God back to the faithful love of God!
Application/Prayer:
King Hezekiah was a king who loved God AND led the people to do the same. As Christ followers, we are to also lead people to love God and do what He says. Ask God to help you point others to him every day.
July Memory Verse:
“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”
Using the daily reading prompts from George H. Guthrie’s Read the Bible for Life, here’s how to use this devotional:
- Bring your Bible! Your kids need to see that everything you are reading to them or learning about comes from an actual Bible!
- Each day starts with a reading prompt. Read the selection as a family. If your kids are readers, encourage them to read along with you.
- After you’ve read the passage, read the short devotional thought that goes along with each passage.
- Prayer and application are important any time we read God’s word! After each devotional, there is a challenge to help apply what your family has read that day.
- There is a reading for six days of the week. The last reading of the week is a Gospel Conversation Prompt to help you connect the reading from the week with God’s plan for salvation.
Other Resources:
July memory verse coloring sheet
July Fill-in the blank activity