Hezekiah
This man was a hero. He has a great obituary: Hezekiah 'did what was right in the eyes of the Lord...Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him...He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following Him; he kept the commandments the Lord had given Moses'.
Not a bad thing to be said about you, is it? I wonder what they'll say about me.
'Jim Finch... he told silly jokes....'
Whether it was smashing up idols, restoring worship in the temple, praying before taking action or cutting down idols, Hezekiah was your man. He was the business! Several times he faced a crisis and in every situation he turned to God first before trying to fix things himself with his own action plans.
The threat they faced at that time came from Assyria. There was a bit of a cold war going on and Assyria were led by Sennacherib, a bad guy with muscle who wasn't afraid to use it. He wanted the area called Judah, but Hezekiah was having none of it. He put first things first. He didn't ready the troops, or strengthen the walls, or form a Dad's Army of volunteers. First he got the people right with God. Not a bad tip. When the chips are down and your back's to the wall, what do you do? No! You don't call 'Ghostbusters'. Panic then? Try to think of a plan to fix it? Or turn to God?
Hezekiah turns to God first, and only then looks at sorting things out. And God guides him all the way.
Unfortunately Hezekiah had a blind spot. As things went on he only really thought about the now situation and didn't concern himself about what might happen after he was no longer there. He really shows that he isn't bothered about the next generation. Now that would not be a good epitaph, would it?
Perhaps we could think about what we could leave for our descendants, whilst making sure that God's plan stays on track with us now. Talk to Him, and listen. Then follow your heart.
Have a beautiful epitaph, eventually.
Jim Finch
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