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Day 49 – Promise Fulfilled 2 Kings 25 We all make promises, but how many promises do we keep? Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah when he started the mass exodus of the Jews from Judah to Babylon taking with him all the brass, gold, and silver found in the house of the Lord. He left only the poor of the land to tend it. God made promises to Solomon when he dedicated the temple to Him. God told Solomon that if the people strayed from Him, turned to idols, and would not regard the law or became disobedient to Him, He would exile them to another country and they would be slaves until such time as they returned to Him. With every evil king God sent prophets restating His promise to send them into exile, but the kings and people would not listen. He fulfilled His promise first to Israel when Assyria took them into exile, and now with Nebuchadnezzar he sent Judah into exile, fulfilling His promise to His people. When it comes to promises, we have a hard time keeping them, and we have a hard time believing God will keep His, even though He has not failed to keep a single promise to His people. His last promise is that Jesus will return and He will come to judge the earth in the Tribulation. It has been two thousand years since Jesus returned to heaven with the promise of His return, and people see His lack of return as a failed promise or that He will never return. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (KJV) God loves us so much that He is not willing that anyone should die without having an opportunity of accepting Him as Savior and Lord. God loved His people when He sent them into exile, giving them another opportunity to turn back to Him and serve Him in obedience and faithfulness. God wasn’t and isn’t finished with His people, including all those who accepted His Son as Savior and Lord. When Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem he took all the treasure from the house of the Lord. Nothing was spared. We have a lot of treasure in our lives that needs to be taken away. What is our treasure? Our treasure is anything that takes our eyes and hearts away from God and becomes first place in our lives. I’m sure you can think of any number of things you have that you aren’t willing to part with. What about those things that aren’t physical but you still follow after them – celebrities, cars, work – your treasure is anything you place ahead of God and aren’t willing to give up. We need to be as Nebuchadnezzar was when he took away all the treasure out of the house of God, we just need to rip it from our lives and put God back on the throne where He belongs. God never said we couldn’t have anything. In fact He promises to give us the desire of our hearts, as long as we put Him first. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (KJV) God eventually brought Israel and Judah back to the Promised Land, but they would learn to trust Him first before He brought them back. Let’s pray: Father, help me trust You and be obedient to You putting You first in my life, and seeing all the stuff as meaningless in respect to Your place in my life. Help me to understand You will give me the desires of my heart when I put You in first place and You will keep all Your promises to me and Your people because You love me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 18 November 2015 by Valerie Jean Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay