Scripture Union Discovery 6th March 2025 Devotional Message for Thursday
TOPIC: Taking the Throne
Opening Prayer
Father, I come to you in humility today, acknowledging that it is only because of the sacrifice of your Son that I can come calling you by that name. Please accept my thanksgiving and praise.
Read ZEPHANIAH 2:12–15
Cush
12 “You Cushites,[a] too,
will be slain by my sword.”
Assyria
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
leaving Nineveh utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.
14 Flocks and herds will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl and the screech owl
will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
rubble will fill the doorways,
the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelry
that lived in safety.
She said to herself,
“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
All who pass by her scoff
and shake their fists.
Reflect
Where do you see pride like Nineveh’s today (v. 15)? In your home, church, or workplace? In yourself?
Nineveh was huge. It was the capital city of the Assyrian empire, used to flaunt its leaders’ wealth and power. It is said that three chariots could race around the top of its walls, they were so thick— no wonder they thought they ‘lived in safety’ (v. 15).
However, Nineveh is perhaps most famous for being the place Jonah refused to go to—before sulking when God didn’t destroy it (Jonah 1:1–3; 4:1–4). Jonah eventually got what he wanted! The repentance he saw was only temporary because Nineveh was destroyed (by the Babylonians). Around two hundred years later it was no more: desolate and dry (v. 13), and returned to the animals (v. 14).
What was Nineveh’s crime? Aside from the horrific things it did to the nations it conquered, its sin was as old as the human race: pride (v. 15). Only God can make the claim ‘I am the one! And there is none besides me’ (v. 15), yet nations and people keep making it for themselves. Those who don’t say it out loud are often betrayed by their actions. What about you?
Apply
Pride is everywhere, although it is not always as obvious as Nineveh’s. How can you root out pride in your own life, and (gently) encourage an attitude of humility and service in yourself, and then elsewhere?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, where would I be—who would I be—without your work done for and in me…without your work done through me? In all that I am and do, help me, that all of my boasting be only and always in you.
Scripture Union Discovery 6th March 2025 Devotional © 2025 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved
