2 Chronicles 31:2-33:20
“With him is only the arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God”. That’s a heck of a line. That’s a line that inspires all those around you. And inspiration is something that Hezekiah brought to nearly all the people around him. Except for the most important person; his son Manasseh. The tragedy of the life of Hezekiah is that while he was so brilliant he left virtually no legacy. And I think this lack of legacy was caused by one thing - Hezekiah didn’t raise up a decent leader to follow him; he did not provide counsel for his son. Within years of Hezekiah’s death Manasseh had gone completely off the rails. Children were being sacrificed, sorcery was being practiced and the temple was being desecrated. I find this challenging. Maybe I’m reading too much into the text but I find in here a call to replicate myself and, more than that, to build a legacy for Jesus through pouring out all I have into those who will come after me. My boys are the obvious place for me to start. I want to do everything I possibly can to provide good counsel for them, to see them living for Jesus, to see them enjoying their God. And then there are leaders, housegroup leaders or other leaders in the church or leaders in schools or in offices or wherever. In truth, few of us will get anywhere near being as brilliant as Hezekiah. But could we have more of a lasting impact than him? I absolutely believe we could, every single one of us - I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).
2 Corinthians 1:23-2:11
“We are not unaware of his schemes.” Really? The last couple of days I’ve had so many random thoughts pop into my head about people who have naffed me off or about situations never going to change or about how stupid the sacrifices are that I have made. I suddenly spot attractive-looking women everywhere and notice more of the challenges of having a house and a mortgage and a wife. And these thoughts all lead to one question - “is it really worth it?” Maybe I could just sack it all and go off for a random bonk-a-thon. Then I look at my kids and my wife and realise that would be really, really dumb but maybe instead I could just vent my frustration by spending an evening going through all the imbeciles I’ve ever met, taking particular time to focus on the ones I’ve met in church, and then come up with the best possible ways I could slag them off in front of a whole crowd of people. And I also think about buying a lottery ticket because it becomes clear to me that what I actually really need is loads more money and - let’s be honest - I’m not got to get that working for a church. A church salary is not going to buy me that villa in Spain. But today, as I read this passage I realise that these thoughts are the schemes of the devil. These thoughts are his assault on my life. These thoughts are his attempt to dismay me and to destroy me and to sever me from the people who will help me stand firm. So I need to recognise them for what they are and take action to overcome them. Pray, actively engage with my wife, forgive the people who have hurt me, press into relationships with others. The biggest scheme of the devil has got to be isolation. The snake isolated Eve from Adam and them both from God and they hid in a cacophony of shame. Peter says “resist the devil and he will flee from you”. In Jesus, by the power of his Spirit, this is something we really can do.
Proverbs 21:5-16
“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor...”
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