2 Chronicles 31:1-21

One of the hardest things to do in our spiritual walk is to maintain a vibrant and consistent relationship with the Lord that is growing.  Typically we will have an experience with the Lord in which we are impacted and we make commitments to Him, but then with the passing of time we end up letting those commitments slide and before long we have slid back down into the old patterns of our lives.  Hezekiah has just celebrated a massive Passover in Jerusalem with the people from Judah as well as many people from Israel.  However, this was more than just an isolated experience, God was at work in the hearts of his people and they continued to serve the Lord faithfully long after the celebration.  There are a few keys that contributed to the longevity of this revival in Judah.  We would do well to follow these examples.

THE PEOPLE BROKE THEIR IDOLS: Once the people had experienced the true worship of God, as they celebrated the Passover; they realized that their idolatry had to go.  They went out from the presence of God and immediately broke all of the idols in the land and out of their houses.  They had gotten a taste of true and satisfying worship so the idolatry that they had practiced before was simply repulsive to them.  If we are truly satisfied with the Lord, sin will be repulsive to us.  When we are not repulsed by sin and idolatry, it demonstrates that we are far from the Lord.  The world and Satan are constantly trying to offer false alternatives to true worship of God.  We must consistently walk with God in such a way that these alternative gods do not appeal to us. We must take inventory of our hearts each day to make sure that we are not replacing true worship with a counterfeit religion.  

THE PEOPLE BROUGHT THEIR GIFTS: One of the clearest pictures we can have of our hearts is to look into our back accounts.  If we are maintaining a close walk with the Lord, we will always be faithful to contribute of our resources to the work of the Lord.  Hezekiah, as the leader of the nation set the tone, and the people began to bring in their tithes and offerings to be able to contribute to the work of the Lord in the temple.  The priests and Levites that were responsible for offering sacrifices, leading the people in worship and teaching the Law of the Lord had physical needs and the people rejoiced in being able to meet those needs.  Their closeness to the Lord was clearly evident in the “heaps” of offerings that were brought in over and above what the ministers were able to use.  God has always supplied for our needs in abundance so that we might enjoy contributing to His work in the World.  I believe that if all believers were to consistently walk with our Lord; there would be “heaps” of resources in every church and on every mission field.


THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THEIR BIBLES: As the priests and Levites ministered the Word of God to Hezekiah and his people, they were obedient to the Word of God and followed His laws.  Ministers were established throughout the land and the Law of the Lord was once again taught and followed throughout the land of Judah.  God saw the obedience of His people and blessed them and they were rejoicing and worshiping the Lord from pure and generous hearts.  What a wonderful picture of how all bodies of believers should be.  If we want to maintain a vibrant and consistent walk with the Lord, we must walk in obedience to the Word of God and worship the Lord as we walk in His presence.

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