¹⁷ But the Lord said to Elijah, ¹⁸ “Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself. ¹⁹ Give him this message: ‘This is what the Lord says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”

²⁰ “So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah.

“Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord’s sight. ²¹ So now the Lord says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel! ²² I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.’

²³ “And regarding Jezebel, the Lord says, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body at the plot of land in Jezreel.’

²⁴ “The members of Ahab’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”

²⁵ (No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel. ²⁶ His worst outrage was worshiping idols just as the Amorites had done—the people whom the Lord had driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites.)

²⁷ But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.

²⁸ Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah: ²⁹ “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty.”

1 Kings 21:17-29

Dear God, this is one of those stories that reminds me of a couple of things. First, don’t read the Bible in too small of chunks because you could miss an important part of the story. In this case, if I had stopped at verse 27, I would have missed your mercy due to Ahab’s repentance in verse 28 and 29.

Second, you are good. You’re just chomping at the bit to love on us. To show us mercy. You love us. It’s amazing how much you love us. Thank you. In this case, you were showing Ahab love and mercy, in our earthly timeline anyway, before Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. You are always there. You have always been there.

I was praying with my wife this morning and I felt compelled to just express my love for you to you. And I do, Father. I love you. I’m so grateful for you. I really do want to learn from you and live the life on earth that you have for me to live. I want to slog with you through the valley of the shadow of death. I want to be faithful in the little things. I want to bring your joy to others around me. I want to be part of your kingdom coming to this earth and touching the less fortunate and the fortunate as well. So give me ears to hear. Give me eyes to see. I’m going to a training for leaders today. Make me the man you need me to be for those who are there.

I give all of this to you as a prayer in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen