February 21, 2022

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 26-29
Meditation Verses: 29:5-8

Thought

Hezekiah understood that the trouble that had come upon the nation was because his father and that generation had turned against the Lord. When things went from bad to worse, his father turned to the gods that had conquered him and shut the doors of the Lord's temple. He didn't understand or refused to understand that all his trouble was because he wasn't worshiping the Lord and walking in His ways. Somehow Hezekiah understood, likely because of the preaching of Isaiah. So when he became king, his first act was to cleanse and reopen the temple and reestablish worship to God.

Application

God was certainly pleased by Hezekiah's leadership in reopening His temple and restoring sacrifices. But what the people really needed to know was that what God wanted was obedience and faithfulness. The people were so fickle, worshiping the Lord when this king said so, forsaking Him when that king said so. The Lord didn't really want sacrifice and offering, but obedience and faithfulness. The sacrifices were to cover the occasional mistake in violating His commands, not to excuse the unchanging ignorance, the intentional ignorance of His people. What Hezekiah did was good and necessary, but what was also needed was a change of heart in the people. The same is true today. We don't just need a form of godliness, but real transformed hearts that worship the Lord in truth and in life-change. That's what I need to encourage here.