Slices
Prepare
Yesterday, we thought about some of our negative influences. Today we are looking at positive ones. Who in your life has been an example worthy of following? Thank God for their faith and impact.
Bible passage
Hezekiah king of Judah
18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watch-tower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
9 In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the River Habor and in towns of the Medes. 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant – all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: ‘I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.’ The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
Explore
Yesterday, we saw that Israel had been led by a succession of bad kings since it broke away from Judah. Some of Judah’s kings had followed the Lord, though none of them had completely eradicated the idol worship in the nation. Hezekiah came as a breath of fresh air.
He finally destroyed all the things that the people were worshipping in place of God, including one of their own sacred items – a bronze snake. This was a tool God had used to give his people life when they had been bitten by poisonous snakes in the wilderness (read about it in Numbers 21). Yet this symbol that should have pointed them to God had, itself, become an object of worship. Even good things can draw us away from true worship.
Hezekiah gives us many examples to follow: he did what was right (v 3), he trusted in the Lord (v 5) and held fast to him (v 6), and he kept God’s commands (v 6). In which of these areas do you most need to grow?
Respond
Ask the Lord to show you any areas where you need to grow in faithfulness to him. Are there any ways you are tempted to look to something other than God for your joy, hope or security? Ask him to help you love and serve him only.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Proverbs 7,8; Colossians 2
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Support Worker Grace Webber amid the busyness of summer activities, asking that she will be able to provide effective support to the Wales team as they develop more Welsh language resources to help churches reach children and young people in Wales.
Because a strong start begins with smart preparation
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