My thoughts in the season of Lent

We successfully completed meditating on the chapters in 1st and 2nd Chronicles in our church.

We started on Ash Wednesday, quite some time ago in the month of March and every day we gathered and met up in the evenings. Two hours of dedicated time for praise and worship, reading Bible, exposition and prayer. These two hours were the best hours of the day.

Initially there were only a few people who came, but as the days went by, many people joined the group. Last Saturday, the count was more than 80. No one forces any one to come/attend, it’s purely on their own convenience.

We started focusing on the books of 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles. On Ash Wednesday, we were introduced to the summary of these books, the author, the key themes and such information. 1^st Chronicles – chapter 28:9 is the key verse in that book, whereas 2 Chronicles 7:14 remains the key for the 2^nd book.

We meditated on these chapters every day. Many of our church members took turns to read the Word of God and come prepared so that we may be able to tell others. This exercise helped the person to speak well and to prepare well, as he/she has to teach to others.

Almost everyone from the church spoke, it was a wonderful feeling that each and every person called on the name of the Lord. After the message, people used to pray with earnestness and great desire.

In spite of busy schedules of people, many made it to the prayers in the evening.

Let me now try to focus on the two key themes in the two books – 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles.

1 Chronicles 28:9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

In this verse we read how David admonishes his son Solomon. He tell Solomon to Acknowledge the God of your father. How wonderful is to acknowledge God in our lives. There are a few important principles he is trying to tell us:

• Acknowledge the God of your father
• Serve him with whole hearted devotion
• Serve him with a willing mind
• The Lord searches every heart
• The Lord understand every desire and every thought
• We need to seek him and he will be found by us
• If we forsake him, He will reject us forever.

2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Even in the 2 Chronicles 7:14, we find that this is the key verse of the chapter. Let us divide:

• If my people
• Who are called by my name
• Humble themselves
• Pray and seek the face of the Lord
• Turn from their wicked ways
• I will hear from heaven
• I will forgive their sin
• I will heal their land