08/02/15 Bad Use of a Second Opportunity

READING: 2 Kings 20-21

TEXTS AND APPLICATION: These chapters tell the story of Hezekiah’s illness and miraculous recovery. Through the prophet Isaiah, God sent word to the king that he was about to die. Hezekiah prayed and wept, and God granted him 15 more years of life (2 Kgs. 20:6). The king who had been faithful to this point was granted additional years to be a faithful witness for God. 

In apparent arrogance, though, Hezekiah displayed all his wealth before the son of the king of Babylon, and he may well have considered a treaty with the Babylonians against the Assyrians. 

2 Kgs. 20:13 Hezekiah gave them a hearing and showed them his whole treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

Isaiah again appeared, this time to announce God’s judgment: His people would be carried off to Babylon (2 Kgs. 20:16-18). 
 
What is most striking to me is how easy it is to forget the miracles of God and lean on self. God had miraculously given Hezekiah 15 additional years to live, and the king misused those years. I wonder how many times God has granted me a second chance, additional time to serve Him — and I’ve focused that time more on me than on Him. 
 
As I think about it, though, every day is another day of God’s grace. If I have life at all today, it’s because God has graciously granted me breath despite the fact that I remain a sinner. I live today only because He allows me to live today. I owe Him my best, confessing all the while that even my best is a result of His grace. 

 

PRAYER: Pray with me that all of us will give God our best today, knowing that we live only because of His grace.   

TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Chronicles 32-33

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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