Make Use of Your Time

2nd Kings 20

I mentioned before that my wife and I like to watch movies. Have you ever seen a movie with a sad ending and then you watch it later. Part of you does not want to watch it because you know how the movie ends and you do not want to be sad. Sometimes that is like me when I read through 2nd Kings. I am reading and right now it may be somewhat good but you know how 2nd Kings ends and what will happen to Jerusalem. We need to look at it in a bigger picture, this is one detail to the over all theme, which is God’s plan in saving mankind. 

In this chapter we see King Hezekiah healed of his sickness and the beginning of the end for Jerusalem. Read 2nd Chronicles 32 to see more details to the life of Hezekiah. 

A sick king prays

This was a flashback to Hezekiah’s life, 15 years before he died. He became sick. Isaiah the prophet came to see him and brought some news. The news was not good. He told the king that he would die. Talk about bearing bad news. Isaiah only spoke what God wanted him to speak. As Hezekiah heard this, he wept and prayed to the Lord. He asked God to heal him and God heard his request. 

Isaiah was obedient as God spoke to him after he left and he turned around to tell the king that God heard his prayer and is going to heal him. He will give Hezekiah 15 more years of life. What would you do if you knew you only had 15 years to live? How would you live them? What would you do? The Bible tells us that we do not know what tomorrow will bring (James 4:14). We are told that we need to make the most of this life for the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 5:16). We know life is just a vapor (James 4:14 NKJV). We need to know that are days are held in the hands of God and while we have breath in our lungs, we need to share who God is with those around us. 

When you start thinking about your life and how much time you spent doing this or that it can be somewhat depressing. I know if I play a video game for more than 30 minutes I can be all bummed that I just spent this much time doing that when there is so much else that needs to be done. How much time do we spend watching t.v., movies, talking on the phone, surfing the internet, talking about Jesus Christ to someone? Think about it

The Beginning of the End (12-20)

We see that King Hezekiah is healed and he is welcomed by some visitors of the North East. They come from Babylon. If you know what is going to happen we see that this is just the beginning of the end. These men supposedly came on order from the king to see how king Hezekiah is doing since he was sick. The king decided to show off the kingdom. He showed all of the treasures that were in the storehouses and the greatness of Jerusalem. Hezekiah was being prideful with showing his greatness. Isaiah returns to the scene by asking what did you show these men and he said, “Everything.” He was wondering what was wrong with me showing off this wonderful city?

Then Isaiah bears bad news again. He said, “The days are coming when Babylon will come and take everything out of your house and even your sons will be taken captive to Babylon. We see how self-centered Hezekiah was when he responded with, “The word of the Lord is good.” The reason he said that was because it was will not happen during the days of his life. Instead of being saddened of what will happen to his country and to his people, all he cared about was his life and time. Even this king who was like David had a some issues of sin too.