1 Kings 13:33–34: “Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.”

July 16th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

God appointed Jeroboam to rule over northern Israel, promising him: “if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight . . . then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house” (1 Kings 11:38). But Jeroboam didn’t walk with God, and his apostate religion caused the eventual downfall of the 10 northern tribes. However, we will see that God Almighty was very patient and slow to anger, and the downfall was still years away.

There is an important lesson here for us concerning God’s patience. We must be careful not to mistake God’s patience as God looking the other way. We might be tempted to think that God is ignoring our sin or accepting it in our lives. But in reality God is simply giving us time to turn from our sin and repent, time to give our lives back to Him.

Pastor A. Douglas Brown said, “God is very patient. It took Him years to teach me to say 2 words: ‘Lord, anything!'” If Jeroboam had only learned that lesson, things would have been much different for him and the 10 northern tribes he ruled over. The same is true for us. God is waiting for us to say those 2 simple words to Him today.

“LORD, anything.”