Reading God’s Word Requires a Response and a Call to Action by Nancy Wheeler

Today’s Passage – 2 Kings 23 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

Second Milers also read – Luke 23 – 24; Psalms 16 – 20; Proverbs 4

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Joshua 1:8

Read the “0504 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The Law Read

2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. (2 Kings 23:2)

The King’s Response 

3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23:3)

The King’s Action (vs. 4 – 25)

4 And the king commanded, 5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, 6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord… burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, 7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense … (2 Kings 23:4 – 8ff)

I think you get the picture. God’s word read, requires a response and a call to action.

There have been times in my life where God has put a fire in me to devour his word. Either before a great sorrow or after. Looking back, I can see His goodness in my life. God is always good even in tragedy and death.

Several months before my husband Mike passed away was one of those times. I couldn’t seem to get enough of God’s word. I read for several hours a day. Searching for answers and comfort. There was a situation within my family that was heartbreaking, and I was sure God was speaking to me about that.  Looking back, He was preparing me for grief as well.

I was traveling to Missouri when I received the call that Mike was killed. I remember taking my dad’s hand and saying, “I need to pray”. My prayer was one of thanking God for Mike’s bold testimony and knowing he was in heaven with him. And then asking God to not let this be something that pulls me away from Him but draws me closer. I asked him for His grace. That I wanted to be present in everything that was going to happen in the next week. I believe that that prayer was born out of the reading of God’s word the past few months.  God was preparing me for action, to walk through grief.

After the funeral, God drew me to the book of Job. The first part where Job loses everything and the last part, where God tells Job who He is. When I remember who God is, that’s when I trust and obey his word.

Again, God is preparing me for two years later, when I am a blubbering mess. Worried about something out of my control. I am thankful for those that day that prayed with me, that morning. My Pastor Charles, Tina, Phil Sr., Phil Jr., and several friends. That night though is when I again came to the end of myself and remembered who God is. He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I can trust him in life and in death. I’ve learned that to live a life of trust requires reading God’s word and putting it into action.

You must know God to trust God to Love God. I am to be strong in the LORD, steadfast, serving the LORD until He brings me home. 

Nancy Wheeler

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:3)


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