King Hezekiah is one of my favorite Old Testament characters. He is described in 2 Chronicles 31.21: “In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the Law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so, he prospered”
As I read that, I asked myself, “Scott, do you want to prosper?” Of course I answered, “Yes!” (I have these conversations with myself often…) I realized that I could prosper (I’ll leave the definition of prosper for another day.) if I followed the example of Hezekiah:
- Seek God wholeheartedly
- Work wholeheartedly
- Serve God’s “temple” – the people, the Church
- Live a holy life in obedience to God
I don't have time today to unpack this, but perhaps I will later. Let’s just work on those 4 things and leave the results of our prosperity in God’s hands!
2 comments:
I'm starting to agree with you Dad... Hezekiah is one of my favorites too. He wasn't always seeking God's will, and I love how he's ultimately such a great man of faith, even though he stumbled at times. God doesn't expect the best of us to be perfect - we are human after all - just to realize our mistakes and declare his sovereignty!
I love your allusion to Hezekiah's "prosperity"... yes he was the king, but at one of his most kingly moments, he had nothing in his treasury and was wandering through the streets of Jerusalem with other men of faith, calmly reciting psalms and gently reminding his people of the faith they must place in God while their city was seemingly all but lost to the Assyrians. I want to prosper like Hezekiah!!
Eric and Jenny,
Wow! I missed the fact that Hezekiah was still prosperous even while everything was being taken away from him. Thanks for the reminder. I, too, want to prosper like Hezekiah - even in the valley of fear and disappointment and yes, desperation.
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