Hezekiah

A part of my homework for Evangelism & Discipleship.

Hezekiah was the greatest king in Judah outside of king David. He strengthened his kingdom in the Lord after his father Ahaz "had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the LORD" (2 Chronicles 28:19). Hezekiah "held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses" (2 Kings 18:6).

                      It is easy to look at the heroes of faith in the Bible and be carried away. We tend to look at them and think that it was easy and simple for them to do great things; after all, they were men of God and were born to accomplish a lot for Him. We do not have the expectancy that God could work the same way in our lives. However, all the men in the Bible were humans just like you and me. They had struggles and emotions, fears and insecurities. None of them were perfect and all of them made mistakes. Yet they all do have one thing in common: they held fast to the Lord.

                      Hezekiah wasn't perfect either. In 2 Chronicles 32:25 we can read that after God spoke to him and gave him a sign, "Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem." He struggled with pride, just like all of us. What makes him great though, is that already in the next verse it says that "Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart". We all sin, but the question is, are you humble enough to admit it and repent? It is always easier to humble ourselves than have God humble us.

                      After watching his dad not doing what was right in the sight of the Lord for 25 years, Hezekiah was serious about making some changes the first day of his reign. First he made sure the Levites "gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD" (2 Chronicles 29:15). The same way we need to make sure that our hearts are first sanctified before we begin to do anything else. 2 Corinthians 6:16 and 7:1 says, "And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

                      Our bodies are the temple of the Lord. If we call ourselves Christians, let's act that way. Not everything belongs in our hearts, and if we want our lives to change, we have to start from the inside. It's one thing to see that change needs to happen, but another to say that I'm going to make a decision to change that. Now, even a decision doesn't guarantee change either. You can't be casual about change happening; monumental changes in our lives don't happen while we are sleeping. Hezekiah actually go to make sure that it happened. Change is possible only when we desire to be close to God.