II Chronicles 31:21 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.

    Over the last few days the world has witnessed something that most people had never seen before: the conclusion of one British monarch’s reign and the commencement of the successor. Previous generations might have seen this transition more than once in their lives, but Elizabeth II was a survivor! It will be interesting to see what King Charles sets as his priorities after waiting his whole life to be king. What will he do first?

    Hezekiah had been crowned King of Judah. His father was not a good king and had led the people into all sorts of idolatrous behavior. Hezekiah’s first acts as king was to reestablish the proper religious life of Judah and eliminate all of the idols. He wanted to return the temple to its rightful place in the life of the people. He even invited the Northern Kingdom of Israel to join in the services! Many scoffed and rejected his invitation, but he moved ahead and the services were a blessed event. It was, I suppose, the Old Testament version of a revival! 

    Interestingly enough, when the people had come to Samuel hundreds of years prior to this to tell them they wanted a king, they said that they wanted “to be like the other nations.” They weren’t looking for a spiritual leader. They had that in Samuel and the priests. They wanted a king to handle all the ‘other stuff.’ God told Samuel to give them what they asked for, adding that “They have not rejected you, but Me.” 

    So, starting with Saul, they had a king. One after another. King after king. When we read of the reign of these kings in the books of I and II Kings or I and II Chronicles, we are told right away as each new king is introduced whether they were a good king or a bad one. And what is the determining factor in each? How well they led the kingdom spiritually! Never once are they labeled ‘good’ for doing really well at all the ‘other stuff.’

    God has not called any of us to be a king or queen. (Sorry to disappoint!) But He has called us to various other things. You may be a teacher, a student, work in business, or government, or perhaps you’re retired. Whatever it is, we all want to be successful at that thing. We’d like to be able to look back someday and see that we were good at what we did. One surefire way to guarantee that we will receive a ‘good’ rating, is to first set our face toward God. To chase after Him with everything we have and everything we are. To work at our relationship with Him wholeheartedly, as Hezekiah did. Today’s verse comes from the second chapter dealing with Hezekiah and he hasn’t done one thing yet that would be considered the ‘other stuff’ that kings do. Yet his success is already assured. 

    I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, that’s what Jesus said.

     But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. - Matthew 6:33

 

Blessings,

Pastor Russ