Hezekiah

 

“Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his [forefather] had done. He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until then the Israelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [a bronze trifle]. Hezekiah trusted in, leaned on, and was confident in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that neither after him nor before him was any one of all the kings of Judah like him. For he clung and held fast to the Lord and ceased not to follow Him, but kept His commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with Hezekiah; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.”

2 Kings 18:3-7 AMPC


There's a simple power in obedience to God's ways. As you read through the bible, a pattern emerges. From the word go, humans only last so long on the path God has for them on their own. Then something happens and they wander off. 

In fact, Jesus views us "like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36) and that is actually an apt description of humanity because sheep without a shepherd tend to wander.

Despite this, we can see a the pattern especially clearly throughout the books of Judges, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles (though admittedly, the books of the Chronicles are a longer form version of some of the events in Kings). Even when Israel had a shepherd, in the form of a king, judge, or prophet, they still bucked the system and followed the extremely perverse religions of the land of Canaan, Syria, and Edom. 

Even symbols God meant to remind the Israelites of their folly became idols to them (2 Kings 18:4). 

The pattern they followed: Serve God for a time, start worshipping idols, have some crisis, then go back to God and serve him for a time. They did this so often for quite a few decades, that they eventually stopped even trying to fully let go of their idolatry. They worshipped God, but did not remove the idols from the land because eventually they probably figured they'd go back to them. 

I get it.... to be completely honest, I think we all do. Following God is hard, even with Jesus as our perpetual sacrifice and atonement. However, we have to fully commit to God if we are going to actually get anywhere. 

Let me give you an example. I heard a story once from a pastor who was on a trip and staying with a family. He woke up early one day and decided to get an early morning shower. No one else was up, so he crept quietly into bathroom and showered. When he was finished he got out and realized he'd forgotten two things. 1- his clean clothing and 2- his towel. As he was debating on what to do, such as call out to someone for help, he decided to make a quick dash stark naked down the hallway, past the bedrooms, to his room. He thought, "Surely, if I go quickly and quietly, no one will wake up." So he grabbed his dirty clothing and shut off the light preparing to go. He opened the door and started quickly sprinting down the hallway. As he started to pass the bedroom, he heard a door open. His mind then jumped to "do I go back?" 

In that moment, he said his indecision caused him to start going back to the bathroom while in mid-motion and he ended up tripping and falling flat on his back. Exposed for everyone to see.

The point I want to make with this story is that when we don't completely commit to God in EVERY facet of our lives we run the risk of becoming double minded and walking in idolatry or worse. 

You'll notice that the first thing Hezekiah did when he took office was to tear down the idols and the places of worship that were not God. 

As you go about your day, week, month... What areas are not fully committed to God? Maybe an area of lust, or anger, or covetousness. Maybe pride, or greed, or envy? Whatever it is, I urge you for your own sake to let it go fully to God's care. You may hurt for a moment, like a bandaid ripping off, but God won't let you stay hurt, and it's better than being exposed for everyone to see later on. 


Be like Hezekiah in this generation and time and I promise you God will look favorably on you and make your name great. 

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