July 22 – Reading 203

July 22 – Reading 203

by Tim Satryan | July 22

“WHEN YOUR LIFE CHANGES”
(2 Kings 20:1-21; Isaiah 38:1 – 39:8; 2 Chronicles 32:24-33)

“I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you…” – 2 Kings 20:5

The three text passages we have for today’s reading assignment, all parallel passages, contain some very interesting descriptions concerning the life of King Hezekiah, particularly how his life had some drastic changes.

He is first told by the prophet Isaiah to “set his house in order” because he was going to die – in fact, Isaiah specifically says “you shall not recover.” But, Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah returns to tell him that God has heard his prayer and would heal him!

Second, Hezekiah asks for a sign that God would heal him, and the sign given to him would be something of an impossibility – for a shadow to go backwards! And, although this appears to be naturally impossible, that is what happened!

The third thing we see is Hezekiah showing the entire wealth of the kingdom to visiting rulers from Babylon. As a result of this, Isaiah tells Hezekiah that all of the nation’s wealth, including his decedents, would be carried off to Babylon; nothing would be left. 

What can we learn from these things?

• God can do the impossible. A seemingly incurable disease may be healed. Something physically impossible can be possible! “With God, all things are possible!” (Matthew 19:26)

• Material possessions come and go. The thinking of this world is that material wealth indicates blessing, and apparent poverty indicates lack of blessing. But, know that things come and things go, and are no indicator of the blessing of the Lord. (Matthew 5:45)

• Our days are numbered. Our life here on this planet if finite – we treasure our time here, and do all we can to be in good health. But, each one of us has only a certain amount of time here, and no one but God knows when our “appointment” will arrive. So, we must live each day for Him, using the gift of time we have as wisely as we can! (Psalm 139:16)

Simple Truth:
With all we have – possessions, relationships, time, giftings – we must be good stewards, using them the best we can to serve the Lord!

Reflections and Application: 

• What choices will you make today to use your time the best way possible?

   

• What value will you place on your material possessions, so that you can be a good steward of all you have?

   

• What words can you say today that will best reflect the will of God to those with whom you come in contact?

Closing Prayer…
Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be pleasing and acceptable in Your sight. All I have and all I am, I give to you to serve You and be used for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.