Read
1 Kings 22:1-23
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”                                                                       Verse 8 (NIV)

Reflect
Have you ever had to tell someone you care about, a very hard truth? How often do you try to put a positive tone or a positive spin on what you had to say? We often do so to try and keep a person’s spirit up and not to totally demoralize the person.

Micaiah would not try the positive spin with Ahab, and Ahab hates him for it. Ahab would rather hear cheap flattery from false prophets than to have someone tell him how sinfully damaged he is. Though Ahab repented earlier, he’s up to no good again.

Ahab’s true personality is evident and yet he is hoping for an optimistic report. But he has turned away from God again, and his heart is too cold, too dead, to hear any truth in what Micaiah is saying.

Is your Christian walk defective? Is your heart dead and cold in sin? Don’t look for those people who will say what you want to hear. You can find many people – even popular prophets – that will gloss over your problem and flatter you. Hard truth is the remedy for a sin sick heart. The Bible’s message can be difficult: The message Ahab was given was truth, truth that he had an unacceptable defect. He was dead in sin.

It’s a hard but life-giving message. You need forgiveness through Jesus. Hear the Bible’s truth, find hope, forgiveness, and be set free, come alive again.

Pray
Father, forgive me when I sin. Save me; restore me; change me. Fill me with your Spirit of truth and help me live faithfully for you each day. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.