This week’s Pastor to Person is written by Pastor Caleb Beller.
[2Ch 29:36 NIV] 36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.
Change can be a difficult thing for many different reasons. Sometimes it is the uncomfortably or uncertainty it brings. Other times we know we need to make changes, but we can be so overwhelmed at where to start that we never start.
Hezekiah’s dad Ahaz ruled in Jerusalem for 16 years. His reign left Jerusalem and the temple in shambles. The doors had been closed, temple ransacked, and idols erected. Hezekiah was 25 when he become King of this apostate and idolatrous nation. It would have been easy for him to follow in his father’s footsteps. He could have mourned over the impossibility of restoring Jerusalem’s temple and people and priests. Instead, Hezekiah made a series of decisions that in 16 days (:17) changed the Spiritual trajectory of God’s people.
Step one was to re-open & repair the temple (:3) Our path of renewal and revival always begins with a restored relationship with God. Secondly, he brought back in the priests and Levites (:4) The priests and Levites were entrusted with spiritual responsibility of worship, sacrifices, and the teaching of God’s people. Verses 5-11 gives an example of a “moral-inventory” a list of what had gone wrong, and the steps needed to move forward differently. In vs 12-19 we see the response of the priests dedicating themselves to God, remove the idols and things that didn’t belong in the temple and replacing them with the true objects of worship and sacrifice. Verses 20-35 We see the Spiritual impact now moving from the priests to the city officials, to the people and it results in prayer, worship and sacrifice back to the Lord!
Are you overwhelmed by the spiritual condition of things in your life or the world around you? Let the story of Hezekiah inspire and encourage you that change can start today! Start with the first step of opening the doors of your heart. Invite Him in to begin the work of renovation and restoration. Then let His Word and the Holy Spirit lead you in the daily steps of removing the things that don’t belong with the blessing of things that do!