Day 276

Results of Temporary Repentance

Read: Nahum

Nahum’s message is that God will destroy Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, because of its sin. One hundred fifty years earlier, Jonah brought a similar message. As a result the Ninevites repented and were spared. But it didn’t last long. Threatened by the preaching of Jonah, they said they would serve Jonah’s God, but they soon forgot. About 60 years later, they did what Jonah had been afraid they would do: they took Israel into captivity. They were used of God to punish Israel, but they did so with unnecessary cruelty. Because their repentance had only been temporary, Nahum declares the word of God that they will be punished.

Revivals are wonderful. We need them, but they tend not to last very long. Jonathan Edwards, a leader in the Great Awakening, was pastor of a church in a town in Massachusetts. I went there to see his church, only to discover to my sorrow that it was closed for the summer. We need spiritual awakenings. Oh that one would take place in our generation. But we also need to keep spirituality alive. We need to pass a living faith from one generation to the next.

How can we pass on our faith to our children? By seeing that they have biblical knowledge. By praying for them. But especially by showing them in our own lives what it means.

PRAYER
Father, give us a living faith in Christ and give the same faith to our children. In Jesus’ name. Amen.