May 5, 2017 Bible Study — You Didn’t Build That

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 19-21.

    Sennacherib blasphemed against God because he believed that he had risen to power by his own accomplishments. The message which God delivered for him through Isaiah applies to anyone who holds God in similar contempt for similar reasons. Whatever great things any human may accomplish, God planned for them long ago. Those things happened because it suited God’s purpose for them to happen. He knows where we are every moment of every day. He knows when we go out and when we come in. Sennacherib bragged that God could not stop him from conquering Jerusalem. Sennacherib believed that mostly because there was no human force which could stop him. Sennacherib thought that the only way he could be stopped was by an opposing military. It never occurred to him that God has other resources. We must be careful not to make the same mistake. While the human members of Christ’s body may often act as God’s hands and feet, they are not the only resource at His disposal to accomplish His will.

    At one point President Obama made a speech in which he said of those who think they have accomplished things because of their own abilities and effort, “you didn’t build that.” When he said that he was given a lot of flack but he was not wrong. No matter what you have accomplished in this life you were only able to accomplish it because it suited God’s purposes for you to do so. Furthermore, God arranged all of the necessary preconditions for your success. President Obama was giving credit to the government, credit which rightly belongs to God. I will add one more thing. God has already arranged all of the necessary preconditions for you (and I) to successfully carry out His will. If our goal in life is to carry out God’s will, and we actually work to accomplish that goal, we cannot fail.