Today’s Reading:
Read II Kings 9:1-6; II Kings 10:17; 26-31; II Kings 11:1–3; II Kings 12:17-21; II Chronicles 23:18-21
Imagine you are taking a trip. You put the address of your destination in your GPS and you begin your journey. Along the way, you make a turn. What happens to your GPS directions? Most likely you will hear or see this word, “Rerouting.” The GPS is looking for a different way to get you to the same destination even though you veered off the path it suggested you take. Our reading today takes us through a time of rerouting for both the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.
King Jehu was anointed by the prophet Elijah, and he took over the reign of Israel. Jehu was the son of King Jehoshaphat. When Elijah anointed King Jehu, he explained that God’s plan was for him to remove all the descendants of King Ahab and to eliminate the false worship of Baal in Israel. The kings before King Jehu had definitely made some wrong turns in their leadership of the kingdom of Israel. God was giving the nation an opportunity to re-route, and he used King Jehu to do that. Ultimately, King Jehu did not follow the instruction of the Lord with his whole heart, but he did rid the country of Baal worship.
The Kingdom of Judah was also moving in the wrong direction – opposite of where God was leading. The alliance between King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat continued to create issues for Judah as Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab who was married to King Jehoram made many wrong choices. However, out of a lot of wrong choices, a baby was born who would help to make a difference in the kingdom of Judah. Joash was King Jehoram’s son, and he was anointed as the King of Judah at age 7. As a result, not only were the Baal idols destroyed in Judah, but the oversight of the Lord’s temple also returned to the Levitical priests and safeguards were put into place to protect the temple.
“All the people of the land rejoiced,…” II Chronicles 23:21
Application/Prayer:
Have you ever had a day when you felt like you needed to “reroute “your path so it would lead you to where God is taking you? It happens! Thankfully, we serve a God who is willing to help us do that! Read Lamentations 3:22-24. God promises us new mercies every morning. We can always start over! Thank God for that truth today.
June Memory Verse:
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
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:
June memory verse coloring sheet
June Fill-in the blank activity