2 Kings 20
Get your house in order...
How do you react to bad news? Do you
get angry? Do you run away or hide from the situation? Or is your first thought
to pray?
Things couldn't really get any
worse for King Hezekiah. He'd been told by the prophet Isaiah that his illness
was terminal, and death was sure to follow. But the King's first reaction was
not anger, or to ignore what he'd been told, but to turn his face to the wall
and pray. But he also broke down and wept bitterly after his prayer; he fully
recognised the reality of his situation.
Because of his obedience and
faithfulness to God (over a 100-year period of Judah
I'm sure most of us would not
want to know how or when we'll die, but you could perhaps hold the view that God
was remarkably kind to Hezekiah, telling him that his death was near. Not all
people are given the time to set their house in order.
We know that God, in His infinite
wisdom and sovereignty, does not always chose to heal or to give us what we
think we need (but he always answers our prayers). But, sincere faith and
prayer, if directed to the one true God, can change any situation. We read in
James 5 verse 16 that "the prayers
of a righteous man are powerful and effective".
If you love Jesus Christ as your Lord
and saviour, you have been given a gift far more miraculous and precious than
that of King Hezekiah's; the gift of eternal life. Until the day when our Lord
returns to judge the world and redeem those who have remained faithful until
the end, let's make each day count. Let's rise and dedicate the day to our
living God and sleep at night knowing our house is in order, because of the
saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6 v 23.
(member of a homegroup)