lessons from the king

Sunday I shared a message with our church about King Hezekiah.  He wasn’t one of a kind, but he was somewhat of a rebel in his day.  The kings before him and after him cared very little about the things of God.

Similar to the people that Joshua addressed in Joshua 24 we must make a choice who we will serve.  Some have made poor choices to follow what other people say, but Joshua was forthright about what he and his family were going to do.  They chose to follow God no matter what.

Hezekiah did that as well.  His choices determined the results and had a great impact on the people around him.

2 Kings 18:3-7  NLT

He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered.

Remember that this memorial or history is recorded by the people who watched what Hezekiah did.  It has been passed down for more than a couple thousand years.  They said that Hezekiah “did what was right in God’s sight”.  That is a big deal.

The way we know what is right in God’s sight is by what we learn in the Bible.  God calls those who follow Him to respect God and others.  He tells us that our character is what comes out when life is tough.

Because of the choice Hezekiah made to follow God he led others to do what is right before God.  The example of the king led those under his care to follow what he did.  The same happens in our lives.  The people around us as we make important decisions are impacted by our decisions.  If we do what is right, others will do what is right.

This king trusted in the Lord from the start.  He was destined to do something very different.  His father and many before him chose to everything in their power to do what was opposite of what God wanted.  Many people repeat what their parents did.  That was not the case with Hezekiah.  He chose to start off in a new way.  He chose to please God, and that made things different.

Hezekiah looked at the future and understood the choices in the present would impact the future.  Not only were his choices and example for those around him and for future generations, but those choices were conduits of blessing.  There would literally be a return on his investment to do what honored God.

Finally, Hezekiah was known as a man, a king that prospered because he placed his faith in.  We learn from this one man’s choices that there would be great blessings for a long time for making the best choices today.

We learn from Hezekiah and know that the same is true today.  Our choices to do what is right will influence others to do what is right.  Also our righteous lives open up the opportunity for even more blessings on those who do right and on the people around them.

My desire is to see and hold on to the blessings of our God, but I also want my family, both current and in the future, we be beneficiaries of the same blessings from our gracious God.

Great and godly choices lead to blessings that only God can give!