2 Chronicles 31.20-21 20
This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and
faithful before the Lord his God. 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.
Hezekiah was just a man, but he was a man with a heart
for God, and a heart for his people. As I read down through the accounts of the
kings in Israel, it is remarkable how faithful some of them were despite the turmoil
in the world around them; and it is tragic how unfaithful some of them were.
In Deuteronomy 28 we read a proclamation of God of
blessings over His people if they obey Him: If
you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give
you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All
these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your
God… (Vv.1,2) What follows is a list of those blessings.
Largely, as a nation, Israel disobeyed the Lord and
because they did, there were consequences. However, some of Israel’s kings were
good and faithful, even though others were not. And so there was a slow erosion
of the blessing of God because of their unfaithfulness. And sadly, the good
never overcame the bad, and finally, all of Judah and Israel went into
captivity. We’re seeing signs of that in our own nation today.
But, there is never a substitute for seeking the Lord, and working wholeheartedly in whatever situation
one finds oneself. It seems that God is no longer in the nation-building
business; but He is in the person-building business. God desires to befriend,
personally, every person on the planet. And it appears that God will bless the
humble, but oppose the proud (James 4.6,10). God blesses the one who seeks Him
and works wholeheartedly with Him.
God’s blessing, however, is not always monetary or
physical (like we like to believe). It may have been that way in times of old,
but I think that’s only part of His blessing. Today, it seems God blesses us
with things like peace, joy, and the intangibles of faith. (I only use the word
intangible to mean: we can’t wrap our
hands around His blessings, but we sure can wrap our hearts around them…)
Blessing is a sense of happiness and fulfillment that goes
beyond the tangible. Yes, physical healing
or monetary rescue are what we call blessings and those we deem as good. But
God is more concerned with what is going on in our heart – what kind of people we really are: people of
faith, or people of trinkets and treasures. Usually, blessing is the coming through of adversity, having
learned something…
But the narrative of 2 Chronicles 31 it says of Hezekiah, and so he prospered. Prosperity needs to
be inclusive of God in order to be of any worth. Hezekiah, as a leader, set the
tone for blessing: he sought the Lord and worked wholeheartedly – that sounds
to me like something to emulate.
Father, find in me
a heart that seeks You and an ethic of work that accompanies. It’s You I seek,
but I need to pay the bills as well. Thank You for the example of Hezekiah and
how You prospered him in his endeavor to serve You, wholeheartedly. May I do
the same. – Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment