July 23rd, 25:From Desperation to Dependence: Lessons on Change from Hezekiah and Peter

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On this July 23rd episode, your host Hunter invites listeners from around the globe to gather for day 205 of our journey through the Scriptures. Today’s readings include 2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38 and 39, Psalm 75, and 1 Peter 2. Join Hunter as he reflects on the story of King Hezekiah’s illness and miraculous recovery, the lessons hidden within his encounter with Babylonian envoys, and the call from 1 Peter to crave pure spiritual nourishment for lasting transformation. Alongside thoughtful reflections, heartfelt prayers, and encouragement for real life change, Hunter reminds us to find our hope, comfort, and true life in Christ. Whether you’re at home or, like Hunter and Heather, camping along the Oregon coast, take these next 20 minutes to open your heart to God’s Word—because you are loved.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

Change requires work. Change of appetites, change of habits. Changing the things we turn to instead of turning from. It's going to take some work, and that's going to take some time. You might be sick and tired of your way of doing things. Maybe you're just exhausted with yourself.

If so, Peter tells us right here that getting rid of the things you want to change isn't going to be enough. If we just remove it, when the troubles come, when we're stressed out, we're going to go right back to where we've been and do the things we've done before. No, simply stopping what you're doing doesn't bring about the change that you want. It's not just stopping, no. It will also require starting—craving something new. The answer is never just to get rid of the old, to sweep the cupboards of all the junk food. No. You've got to change your diet and begin craving something altogether different: the pure spiritual milk of God's Word. It requires a total change of diet. We must replace it and not just remove it.

We need to assume a childlike heart and crave the pure spiritual milk of the Word. The Word is Christ. To draw from Christ our nourishment, our comfort, our life. Peter says become like a baby in that regard: totally dependent upon him. Peter says if we do that, we will begin to experience change—real change from the inside out.

So let's do that. Let's continue to show up here each and every day to train our souls, to partake of God's food, his milk, his bread, to be dependent upon him for our very breath. It's not just about getting rid of things. It's about him—finding our life in him, learning something new altogether as we come to him, the source of our true nourishment and life.

And that's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so.