Bible Reading with DragoNate #156

Important to God

1 Chronicles 5

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 1) "These are the sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn. (Although he was the firstborn, his rights as firstborn were given to his nephews, Joseph's sons, because he dishonored his father's bed. However, Joseph couldn't be listed as he firstborn son." (v. 18) "The descendants of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 soldiers ready to go to war. They were skilled fighters who could carry shields and swords and shoot arrows."

My Thoughts

1 Chronicles 5 gives an account and genealogical record of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. That's kind of what 1 Chronicles in general is about. It shows how important things are to God and how important we are and the details of our lives to Him. Although good things are emphasized, the bad is not ignored.

Do you keep a journal or a diary that you just write down your thoughts in? You usually put down the things that are most important to you, right? Sure there may be some not so good things in there, but it's the good things that are emphasized. That's pretty equivalent to 1 Chronicles.

Reuben lost his birthright because he dishonored his father's bed, and that is remembered. Also in verse 25, it is noted that these three tribes were unfaithful to God. How many men and their skill at fighting is noted in verse 18 and that is a positive tick for them.

God absolutely cares about the bad things we do. If He didn't, we wouldn't have needed Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins. Even though God does care about the bad things, He cares more about the good things. No one is perfect and we all have our problems and make mistakes, but God doesn't hold every mistake as a bounty over our heads.

I am really only talking about 1 Chronicles right now, and not specifically about chapter 5 of it. I mean, I mentioned a couple things, but not much more. I couldn't seem to get anything specific from chapter 5 here, so I really hope that I can in other chapters. If you have any thoughts specifically from chapter 5 of 1 Chronicles, please let me know.

Our takeaway can't be that we should be skilled warriors. I guess, again, it would be to stay faithful to God and to use whatever skills and abilities He has given you faithfully as well.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #30

Not Your Fault?

2 Kings 21

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 8-9) " '...I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers, if only they be careful to do everything I commanded them.' But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites."

My Thoughts



Manasseh was a bad king, as he did evil in the eyes of God. He built altars to the 'starry hosts' and asherah poles in God's temple. He defiled the temple that God had said He would put His name forever. Not only did Manasseh commit evil acts, but he led the Israelites astray and caused them to commit evil acts as well. Even though Manasseh was leading them astray, they still chose to follow his lead.

So, if someone leads you to do something that is wrong, is it your fault? The short answer to that question is 'yes.' If our government said that we should take advantage of the poor and attack them because they don't belong in society, and we do so, we are the ones committing the acts. The government would also be at fault for telling us to do so and for leading us wrong, but we are at fault for following.

There are certain circumstances where I do not believe that God would hold someone accountable. In a situation where you are literally forced to do something for example. So, how do you know whether you can say, truthfully, that it isn't your fault what you did? You determine that by seeing whether you actually had a choice or not. If you are following what someone says to do, that is a choice. If you are consciously making a choice to do something, then you would be accountable. If you are forced to do something, or in other words, you have absolutely no other choice, then you would not.

A lot of times, we all say "I had no other choice!" Usually, this statement is a figure of speech. We actually did have another choice, or more, but the one we chose seemed the best. dilemmas like this often come up, don't they? In a case where you have multiple choices, but none of them are appealing, then you choose the lesser of the evils. As I keep saying, always pray before you make any important choice and ask God for guidance.

Be mindful of the choices you make and of who you are following. No matter what anyone says or does, if you willingly make a choice to do something wrong, you are the one responsible for that mistake. Don't willingly put yourself at fault for bad decisions.

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Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!