Rediscovered

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Lisa Semra wrote today's reading, and she titled it Rediscovered. In 1970, a car executive visiting Denmark learned that a 1939 Buick Dual Cal Phaeton was owned by a local resident. Since the car never actually went into production, it was a rare find, a one-of-a-kind vehicle. Delighted with the discovery, the executive bought the car and spent his time and money to have it restored.

Currently, this unique car is featured in a world-renowned collection of classic vehicles. Hidden treasures can take many forms, and in the Book of 2 Chronicles, we read about another discovery of a lost treasure. 18 years into his reign as king of Israel, Josiah began to repair the temple in Jerusalem. During the process, the priest, Hilkiah, found the Book of the Law in the temple. The Book of the Law, the first five books of the Old Testament, had likely been hidden away decades earlier to keep it safe from invading armies.

Over time, it had been simply forgotten. When King Josiah was told about this discovery, he realized the importance of the find. Josiah called all the people of Israel together and read the entire Book of the Law so they could commit themselves to keep all that was written in it. Still important for our lives today, we have the amazing blessing of access to all 66 books of the Bible, a treasure of infinite worth.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 2 Chronicles chapter 34 verses 29 through 31. Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord.

The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord, to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of the scriptures and all the treasures that lie within. Help us to gain wisdom and understanding as we read, and may our lives reflect you more and more as we apply what you are teaching us to our lives. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Toni Collier, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.