READING: 2 Kings 20:1-11, Isaiah 38:1-8, 2 Chronicles 32:24-31, Isaiah 38:9-22, 2 Kings 20:12-19, Isaiah 39:1-8
How easy it is to get enamored with “stuff.” We love our possessions, and we often want to make sure others see just how many possessions we have. We want them to know the extent of our wealth, as if that wealth signifies our value. A focus on stuff, however, turns our hearts from God.
Even King Hezekiah, a good king overall, fell into this trap. When envoys came to deliver a letter and gifts from Babylon to the king, Hezekiah wanted to make sure they saw all he had: “the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries” (Isa 39:6). Indeed, there was nothing Hezekiah did not show them.
Isaiah’s word in response to the king was not positive. Foreshadowing the Babylonian captivity that would occur more than 100 years later, Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord” (Isa 39:6). King Hezekiah’s wealth may have seemed magnificent in the moment, but the time of God’s judgment would come. What looked good today would be carried away by an invading army later.
“Stuff” doesn’t last . . . but God does–so cling to Him!
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How much do you live for “stuff”?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, turn my heart fully to You today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Isaiah 40:1-44:5
