Then Isaiah said, "Prepare a poultice of figs." They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered. – 2 Kings 20:7

Today's Scripture Reading (June 6, 2026): 2 Kings 20

I recently read an article on the benefits of quitting smoking. Our bodies are made in such a way that we actually start the healing process about twenty minutes after our last puff. So, the idea is that it is never really too late to reap some of the benefits of quitting. And the benefits are amazing. Among others, the article listed better sex, a healthier digestive system, a lower risk of developing arthritis, better, more restful sleep, a stronger heart, and even better-tasting food, all as a result of quitting smoking. And beyond that, we get a chance to be one of those annoying ex-smokers who are telling everyone else to quit smoking (Okay, that might not be a benefit.) And yet, with all of the positives, many of us still don't quit. And that speaks volumes about the addictive qualities of cigarettes. We are hooked, and quitting is hard.

As a result, we often need to ask for help. And there are many aids out there to help us on our new journey. Some have a better track record than others, and yet some of us do not even try these avenues. The excuse that I hear the most is that "right now I am experiencing too much stress to even think about quitting." But that excuse assumes that there are times when we are not experiencing stress, and I just haven't noticed very many of those moments around recently. The bottom line is that to quit smoking, first we have to do something. Stopping the practice of buying cigarettes is one of the first recommended actions. But beyond that step, often we need to change our lifestyle; we have to avoid certain triggers if our new non-smoking behavior is going to take root. We need to avoid the things and the places where we once enjoyed a cigarette. But something has to happen. The change in behavior needs to be paired with a specific action. We need it; it is the way that we are designed.

Hezekiah moves from an illness that will end in death to one that can be cured with traditional medicine very quickly (a poultice made of figs was the approved treatment for a boil in the ancient world). But the reality was that Hezekiah needed to do something if he was going to recover. Sitting back and letting God heal him probably wasn't going to work. However, too often we seem to read instructions like those in this passage and think we have discovered an ancient super cure. I can see the book now instructing us that a poultice of figs will cure everything from acne to cancer. But to make that suggestion misses the point. The focus of this instruction is that God would cure Hezekiah, but God, who created us, knows that, for lasting change to take root in our lives, we need to be involved in the process. And so, a poultice was developed as part of Hezekiah's buy-in into the process. Did God need the poultice to heal Hezekiah? Of course not. However, God knew that Hezekiah needed the poultice to ease his mind, and so he had Isaiah tell him to get one.

The instructions for Hezekiah were to follow the standard medical process of the day. He would use conventional medical wisdom to cure the illness, allowing God the space to move through it. Healing often seems to work this way. We do what we can, we act in support of healing, and allow God to do the rest. Cults that believe that healing is an "only God" enterprise have missed some important biblical instructions. Psychologically, we need to do what we can, feeling like we are part of the process, so that God can move through the rest. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 18

See also Isaiah 38:21

Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. – Isaiah 17:6

Today's Scripture Reading (May 12, 2026): Isaiah 17

There is an apple tree growing in my backyard. Every year, the tree produces more apples than we could possibly use. And so, we share bags of apples with the people around us. There is a bit of ritual. One day, usually in early September, my family gathers to pick apples. Everyone gets involved in the process, with my son and son-in-law often climbing the tree to reach the apples on the highest branches.

Days after the apples have been removed, it is amazing that as I sit by the tree, I inevitably find apples that were missed; apples that, for some reason, we were blind to on the day of the picking. We might take boxes of apples off the tree, but over more than two decades of picking the apples off the tree in my backyard, we have yet to get them all. What is even more amazing, at least to me, is that my neighbor has an apple tree as well. The tree has the same kind of apple, and every year they pick their apples. After they finish picking, I usually spot apples that have been left on their tree as well. We never get them all.

Isaiah speaks of an olive tree and notes that even after the olives have been removed, some remain on the tree. Some of the high ones are left, or olives that are hiding among the leaves. Olives that were still clinging to the tree hard enough that even when the tree is shaken, they do not fall. These olives serve as an important reminder for the prophet. Even when a nation is destroyed, there is always a remnant that is left behind. A remnant that can rebuild and begin the process over again, hopefully in a healthier way.

This idea of the remnant was an encouraging phenomenon for the prophet, and it should be for us as well. I admit that I sometimes worry about the health of the Christian Church. Sometimes I find that hate wins out over love. I worry that we have begun to tolerate our neighbor rather than love them. And maybe even a church that has decided to remake God in our image, rather than the other way around. As a church, it is a transformation that has brought pain in its wings. But Isaiah spoke of a remnant during his time, and I hope that same remnant exists today. I pray for a remnant that will begin to love again as Jesus loved. That we will care for our neighbors and sell out in an attempt to love God with everything that we are. That is the remnant that our church needs today. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 18

The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left. – Isaiah 15:6

Today's Scripture Reading (May 11, 2026): Isaiah 15 & 16

Have you ever heard of the Sepik River? What about the Brahmaputra or Guadalquivir Rivers? Maybe the Indus River? I have to admit that I had never heard of the first three Rivers. However, I am familiar with the Indus River, maybe just because I listen to Anita Anand and William Dalrymple's "Empire" podcast. The Indus River flows through China and India, running the entire length of Pakistan, and empties into the Arabian Sea. The Indus is so important that it lends its name to one of the largest countries in the world: India. As for the Brahmaputra, it flows through Tibet, China, India, and Bangladesh, while the Guadalquivir River flows entirely within the boundaries of Spain. The Sepik River is located in Papua New Guinea. Every one of these rivers is essential to life in its area. Like so many rivers in the world, it was along the banks of these rivers that the cities of the area began to grow. Rivers bring life. And while we may not have heard of these rivers, that doesn't mean they are unimportant. Every city I have lived in has had a river running through it, and that is no accident.

We don't know what "the waters of Nimrim" might refer to. It might be a river, a lake, or even a city. What we know is that "the waters of Nimrim" were important for life. The word "Nimrim" refers to "pure" or "wholesome water." It can also indicate "basins of clear water." Nimrim itself was associated with the Kingdom of Moab: here in Isaiah, and again in the prophecy of Jeremiah after the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is also speaking about Moab, and he writes;

"The sound of their cry rises
    from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
    for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up (Jeremiah 48:34).

From the context, we know that these waters were necessary for life and that they had disappeared. Without the water, life disappeared as well. It is hard to imagine how life could continue in the places where we live if the rivers or water sources that meander through our towns suddenly disappeared.

It is the subject of a conversation that Jesus had with an unnamed woman at a water source, in this case, a well. And every day, this woman had to come to the well to get the water that kept her alive. Jesus reminds the woman that while physical water gives us life, to truly live we need spiritual water as well.

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 17

The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. – Isaiah 14:5

Today's Scripture Reading (May 10, 2026): Isaiah 14

Legacy is a strange thing. And experiences can shape how we view our leaders, even generations after their leadership ends. One example I have spent some time thinking about is the reign of King Leopold II of Belgium, who reigned for 44 years, from 1865 to 1909. The legacy of Leopold II might depend on where you experienced him. Some see him as a great leader of his time. Statues are built to him in Belgium. In a world that seems to have gone overboard with cancel culture, apparently, Leopold II has not been canceled.

Some of us see a good reason to "cancel" Leopold. Maybe the reason he hasn't been is that his sin occurred in Africa. Leopold believed that a nation's greatness depended on its overseas possessions, especially in Africa, which it could control. So, Leopold took over Congo in the heart of Africa. The problem is that Congo didn't become Belgian property; it essentially became Leopold's personal property. And Leopold might have been a good king in Belgium, but in what he called the Congo Free State, he was about as bad a tyrant as anyone can imagine. I need to make it clear that I have close friends who are Congolese, and I have heard some of the historical stories passed down from that proud nation's history.

The list of Leopold's sins is long. The atrocities ordered by Leopold in the Congo Free State include enslaving a people, torture, murder, kidnapping, and even the amputation of the hands and feet of people, including children, when the quota of rubber was not met. Leopold's practices in the Congo have been described by George Washington Williams, a pastor, naval officer, and politician, as a crime against humanity. The Congo continues to suffer today; it is divided and at war with itself, and one has to wonder how different life in central Africa might have been if it had never come under Leopold II's control. I know that over a century after the King's death, my friends still talk of his terrible reign in their country.

Isaiah argues that God breaks the power of the wicked and the scepter of wicked kings. I think that is sometimes true, but often I wonder if God couldn't do things just a little faster. Leopold II died peacefully in his bed from an embolism. Maybe, in Leopold's case, part of breaking the King's power was that his nephew, Albert I, succeeded him as King.

Or maybe the breaking of Leopold's power is the way some have remembered the King after his death. I have to admit that I feel the emotion and pain in the work of poets like Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931), who wrote of Leopold II,

Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost.
Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.
Hear how the demons chuckle and yell.
Cutting his hands off, down in Hell (Vachel Lindsay, 1914).

Or maybe it is just the knowledge that even if we escape from this life with our power intact, we will still have to deal with God for our great sin at the end of the age.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 15 & 16

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. – Isaiah 12:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 9, 2026): Isaiah 12 & 13

When I was a youth pastor, the church had a rule that only Christian music could be played on church equipment. Unfortunately, determining which groups were Christian was not always easy. If we define Christian music as recordings sold in a Christian bookstore (this was before streaming), that is not always a perfect definition. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Larry Norman was too secular for Christian Bookstores. He was also too Christian for secular stores. 

The Progressive Rock band "Kansas" has produced songs that foreshadow evangelical Christianity. And several other bands have as well, including "The Fray." Take a listen to their lullaby, "Be Still."

            Be still and know that I'm with you

            Be still and know that I am here

Be still and know that I'm with you

            Be still, be still, and know.

            When darkness comes upon you

            And covers you with fear and shame

            Be still and know that I'm with you

            And I will say Your Name.

One teen decided that the definition of Christian was simply that they were American or Canadian. I mean, deep down, aren't we all Christian?

How do we know if someone is a Christian? It is a complex question, and one that I think we have muddied over the past few generations. In the world that existed a generation ago, when most people seemed to confess to being a Christian, Christians started adding rules. You were Christian if you went to church consistently. Or maybe if you attended mid-week services. Growing up, we spent a lot of time at the church, attending Sunday School, Morning, and Evening Services on Sundays, midweek services on Wednesday, Friday night activities for children and youth, with a Choir practice thrown in somewhere for good measure. But did any of that make us Christians?

There isn't a simple answer, but there are some clues that have nothing to do with church attendance, and Isaiah highlights one of them in this passage. Who has saved you? Or maybe more simply, do you even need to be saved? Have you asked God for forgiveness for the things that you have actively done wrong during your life? It isn't as easy a question as it might seem. Admitting that I have done wrong, or that I needed saving, is hard for most people. But as Christians, we have come to terms with this aspect of our lives. People who are still on the outside looking in often deny that they need a Savior, or that they have committed any sins large enough to need to ask forgiveness.

As Christians, we understand the depth of our sin. In fact, I admit that as I grow as a Christian, I am becoming more aware of my sin, and frequently need to ask forgiveness for things, like my attitude, that I would never have thought were wrong a decade ago. The closer I get to God's plan and his love for people, the more I realize how much I lack.

Isaiah says, "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation." As Christians, we not only hear these words but also feel them and know their truth. I am forgiven, not because there wasn't anything significant to forgive, but because God has forgiven me, and he can forgive anything. I am saved not because I didn't need saving, but because God is my salvation. And he has rescued me!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 14

 

He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears. – Isaiah 11:3

Today's Scripture Reading (May 8, 2026): Isaiah 11

We do so much by appearances. We always have.

I love history, so let me spin a tale of ancient France for you. This story comes from long before the famous tale of D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers. The date is early June 1316, and Louis X is sitting on the throne of France. If you are a tennis fan, then Louis X is important to you. He holds the distinction of being the first tennis player whom we can actually name. Louis loved to play tennis. In fact, he loved it so much that he grew tired of tennis matches being ruled by something as unpredictable as the weather. And so, Louis X had the first indoor tennis court built so he could play whenever he felt like it. 

On this day in June 1316, Louis X is doing what he loved: playing tennis. Louis plays hard, exhausting himself. And then he settles down and cools off, enjoying vast quantities of cooled wine. A short time later, Louis X died. The official cause of death was pneumonia, supposedly because he drank too much cooled wine after an exhausting tennis match. (I am not sure that makes any sense.) Louis X was 26 years old when he died.

For Louis X, the mystery of the story was not quite over. Part of the problem was that, at the time of his death, Louis had a four-year-old daughter, but the nobles in France were unsure whether they wanted a Queen to rule over them. Luckily, Louis's wife was pregnant, so there was at least the possibility of a son to rule over the nation. So, France waited somewhat patiently for the baby's birth.

John was born on November 15, 1316. And he is one of the few who can say that he was the King from his very first breath. But the story of this baby boy also highlights the dangers of having an infant King. John I of France was King of France for five days. On November 20, 1316, John I, the King of France, died. Now, the reality is that infant mortality in the 14^th century was high. It is possible that a baby, even one as affluent and well cared for as John, could have died of natural causes. But for some, there is too much of a coincidence here. A 26-year-old athlete dies of pneumonia after a hard day of playing tennis, and then his son dies five days after being born. Within days of John's death, there were accusations that these deaths couldn't be blamed on natural causes. Some began to believe that the kings were both poisoned.

The most obvious beneficiary of the deaths of these Kings was Philip the Tall, John's uncle, who engineered a hasty coronation as soon as his nephew was dead, becoming Philip V. But who really knew? At the time, Palace intrigue was normal, even when it involved children. Philip would die at the age of 29, after suffering from many mysterious illnesses, and he left no male heir. Philip was succeeded as King by Charles IV of France, his younger brother, who died at 33. Charles IV also died without a male heir, and France, ever since Louis's death, had been unwilling to allow a daughter to sit on the throne. It was not that Charles had no children. He had five at the time of his death, and his wife, like Louis's, was pregnant. However, all of Charles' children died young, including his two sons: Philip, who died at 8, and Louis, who did not make it to one year. Charles's wife gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Blanche, after his death, and, as a woman, she was not eligible to ascend the French throne. That might have been the best thing to happen to Blanche. Blanche, disqualified from the throne by law, died at the age of 65, beating all of her relatives in recent memory.

The Messiah would come from humble beginnings and judge by righteousness, not by wealth or power. In his reign, ideas like right and wrong were not based on who you were. It wouldn't be based on political alignment or even religious alignment. Right would be right and wrong would be wrong. It is a world where children, even the children of kings, could be protected.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 12 & 13

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees. – Isaiah 10:1

Today's Scripture Reading (May 7, 2026): Isaiah 10

In November 2025, six American politicians, Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, alongside Representatives Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, Jason Crow, and Chrissy Houlahan, released a video that clearly stated that members of the American military must not follow illegal orders. It is an important concept that has become even more important in the wake of the Second World War. The defense of many of the Nazi officers and soldiers in the aftermath of the war was that the war crimes committed, especially in the concentration camps, were a result of following orders. The action might be illegal, but what is a soldier supposed to do when an order is received through the legitimate chain of command? The trials that followed World War II made it clear that "I was just following orders" was not a defense when someone is accused of war crimes, although the further up you might be in the "chain of command," the greater the punishment you might incur.

It didn't take long for people to misunderstand the message of these six politicians. One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter),

Several members of Congress suggested the military refuse legal orders. This is seditious and traitorous behavior. These same politicians are now hiding behind their military record. Let me remind you that before Major General Benedict Arnold's treason, he was a decorated hero.

The post also featured a picture of America's infamous traitor. But that was not the message that Senator Kelly and his friends sent. The six politicians argued that illegal orders cannot be obeyed.

Isaiah would agree. Any order that is illegal or creates oppression should not be followed, even if it benefits some in society. These illegal orders are not an issue of a particular political party. Throughout the history of politics, I think that every political party has had "stupid moments." Every party has probably issued illegal orders or immoral laws. No one has a corner on that. But maybe we need to realize that the wealthy and the powerful do not need laws. Laws and orders in our societies are always for the benefit of the weak and the poor, ensuring that everyone has a chance to live the dream. Societies work when they care for "the least of these." They are dysfunctional when they don't. Isaiah makes it clear that God stands with the oppressed and with the laws and orders enacted to defend them. And woe to those from any political party that makes life harder for the needy living among us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 10

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my son, Craig.