1 Kings 15:3: “And [Abijam] walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.”

July 18th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The next two chapters of 1 Kings gives us the history of both the northern and southern kings. The accounts of their reigns overlap, which can be a little hard to follow if we don’t keep the 2 separate (north: Israel and south: Judah). The southern kingdom continued to spiritually go downhill as Solomon’s grandson, King Abijam, followed in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather. The wording here suggests that he learned the sins from his father. He needed to be more like his great-grandfather, David, but that didn’t happen.

A kindergarten class was asked to draw pictures of God. The kids excitedly drew big suns and stick men with rainbows overhead. But one little girl drew a picture of a man with a suit and tie on. She said, “I don’t know what God looks like, so I just drew my daddy instead.” It has been said that a child is not likely to find a father in God unless they find something of God in their father. This is a concept that should stay with fathers all their lives.

How careful we need to be as parents and grandparents. Many have noted that children are a blank piece of paper on which parents and grandparents write. The question isn’t whether or not we will write, but what will we write. In fact this can be applied to every believer, because we will all have an opportunity at some time or another to influence small children toward God. May the Lord give us grace to only encourage them toward eternal life.

“LORD, help us to eternally impact a young life for You this day.”