Daily Devotional For Sunday, August 2, 2026
Good morning Southside and it is Sunday! – The Lord’s Day as we used to say years ago. This is the day that those who call themselves Christians should out of love for the Lord, get out of bed, get dressed and go worship the Lord at their local church. I have never understood anyone who calls themselves a Christian who refuses to do this. After all Jesus went through to go to the cross for us (out of love for us), we should go and worship together out of love for Him. Okay, soapbox over. Let’s get to our devotional for today.
Our daily devotional for today comes from the Book of Habakkuk. I do not know the last time you may have read from this book but it foretells the destruction of Judah by Babylon. Until then, Habakkuk cries out to the Lord in Habakkuk 1:2-4:
“How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but You do not come to save. (3) Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. (4) The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted” (NLT).
God is going to punish His own covenant people who are idolatrous, violent, destructive, immoral, argumentative, ungodly, rebellious and a list of other sins that go on and on. It was not safe to walk the streets of Judah and during this time, the last righteous king of Judah, Josiah, ruled (640-609 BC). He urged the people to return to the Lord. During this same time, what I call the Reformation Prophets of the Old Testament – Jeremaih, Habakkuk, Nahum and Zephaniah – were doing the same call of repentance to God’s people. But all their words fell on deaf ears and hardened hearts.
In Babylon’s first attack around 606 BC, the prophet Daniel is taken into exile. In Babylon’s second attack around 598 BC, Ezekiel is taken into exile. And in the third attack around 586 BC, Jeremiah is taken into exile. Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar took the best and the brightest from Judah in each campaign. He left only the “chaff” to die by starvation under his occupying forces. All these things took place in accord with the warnings Moses had given the people eight centuries earlier (see Lev. 26:14-45; Deut. 28:15-68). God kept His word when His people, after multiple warnings and calls to repent, kept breaking their word to the Lord.
So, in Habakkuk, God reminds His prophet that the righteous will have to live by faith alone. These prophets’ theme was the theme of preachers in the Protestant Reformation – Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Melanthon. It has never been easy for God’s prophets and preachers to convince people, even God’s people of this. We think we have bigger and better gods such as education, wealth, positions, power, possessions, prestige, science, retirement accounts and unfortunately, ourselves. We see God’s rebuke of this in Habakkuk 2:18-19.
All across America in Bible-preaching sermons, pastors call God’s people away from their false idols and turn to the Lord. Though most Christians would decry and denounce idols publicly, their private lives and hearts show where they really put their trust. Christian parents focus on making their children get a good education and then a good job, but never personally disciple their own children. Habakkuk asks the Lord, “How long, Lord, must I call for help?” (vs . 2). God’s preachers and people today ask the Lord the same thing. Habakkuk’s time is no different from ours today. We wondered as he did, “What is the world coming to now? When will all of the injustice end? Is God even paying attention to where this world is today and is He ever going to do anything about it? Or, has God just shaken the dust off His feet and walked away from it all?”
Scripture is clear God does hear our prayers and He is going to fix all this wrong, bring judgment (Heb. 9:27; 2 Cor. 5:10; and Rev. 20:12) and create a new heaven and a new earth one day (Rev. 21:1). The rebellious person will be judged and cast into hell. Sadly, some within the church will be also (see Jesus’ words in Matt. 7:21-23). Until then, as Scripture says, God is patient and His patience is seen in how He is slow to anger and bringing judgment because He does not want any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9). But until then, sin will run wild and we as God’s people individually have to be patient, long suffering and committed to sharing the Gospel and making disciples until then.
Reflection Assignment: How do you deal with all the evil, sin and injustice in this world? Do you go to God first as Habakkuk did or do you choose another god to get you through this life? Will you choose to be obedient to share your faith and make disciples until the Lord returns or until your death (even if it means like Habakkuk), you have to suffer for it?
Scripture To Meditate On: Revelation 6:10, “They shouted to the Lord and said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?’” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please forgive me when I go to other gods to cope with the sin, evil, and problems in this world and in my life. I really want You to be my God. I want to be Your light and salt in this life for as long as You give me life. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly