Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 5-7.

My title today is a paraphrase of what God said to Solomon about what would happen when God sent disasters upon the land in response to the people’s sin.  The full quote is, “ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  When God says, “my people”, He clarifies who He means by that by telling us that His people are those who are called by His name.  So, God’s people can be interpreted as either those who serve Jesus Christ and are called by His name, or those who identify as descendants of Abraham.  I believe that any of those who are part of the second group who truly follow what God says here, they will become part of the first group.

So, I am going to write the rest of this blog to the first group (and if you are reading this blog I suspect that you are part of that group).  If you look at our land, at our world, it sure looks to me like most of it is experiencing some form of judgement from God (wars, extreme civil disorder, severe weather, plague).  Therefore, we, who are called by God’s name, must humble ourselves and pray.    We must seek God’s face, and root out the wickedness which inhabits our hearts.   Notice that God does not say that we need to turn others from their wicked ways; we must turn from our wicked ways.  If we humbly admit that we have failed to faithfully follow all of God’s commands, God promises that He will heal the land.  And at this point I want to go back to Solomon’s prayer of dedication in chapter six verse thirty-six where he reminds us, “for there is no one who does not sin.”   I want to emphasize that God makes this promise based on those who are called by His name doing as He commands here.  Healing the land does not depend on those who deny His existence, or rebel against Him, turning to Him.  No, if we want our land to be healed than we, who are called by His name, must humble ourselves and pray.  That is all it will take.  So, what are we waiting for?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.