Mon., 11/5/12 Devotion (2 Ki. 18:22)

Today's encouragement comes from 2 Kings 18:22, where we read these words:

" 'But if you say to me, "We trust in the LORD our God," is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem" '?"

Usually, less religion is better than more. Here, the Assyrian intimid-ator of Judah thinks that Hezekiah, the good king of Judah, had done *wrong* by removing the high places and altars. In fact, Hezekiah had done well in so doing.

God would rather have us in church on Sunday, trusting in Christ's blood atonement alone for our salvation (plus nothing)--than have us religiously and self-righteously punishing and torturing ourselves with the flesh's efforts to appease His wrath.

[Puritan quote of the day: "How many sweet stories of love and grace may you read in this little book, the Bible?" --William Bridge, in, "A Lifting Up for the Downcast"]