2 Kings 20:16-19 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?” Hezekiahs response here breaks my heart. It seems to me to be a selfish, self centered remark that he makes at the end of this passage. Leaders have been doing this type of thing as long as there has been men in charge of men. Working hard, doing their very best, showing great power, might, determination to solve the problems of today, but giving no thought of tomorrow. No thought of who is going to run this business, who is going to continue this ministry, who will follow in my footsteps, what will my legacy be? Hezekiahs response seems to me to be flippant. You can almost see it in his response, like he was not so sure that he should be responding that way to his reprimand for his error in judgment. First he says “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,”. He accepts the rebuke, acknowledging that he was in the wrong and submits to his punishment, that is not actually HIS punishment, but the punishment of Gods people that would come later. Maybe Hezekiahs state of mind was that he was expecting immediate and swift punishment but God spares the people during his lifetime so that is better. But all I can see is the selfishness of At least I will be gone. Do you give much thought to the idea of who will carry on for you in your leadership position? Who are you training up today that will fill your spot tomorrow? Who can you begin to share your load with to slowly add weight to so that someday they can carry the ministry that you have been obediently pursuing? Have you given thought to the future generations? Who is your successor? If you do this right, and do this well, they will continue to build up your portfolio in heaven...WHILE YOU ARE THERE enjoying it. It seems to me a very important thing to keep an eye on the horizon looking for who will follow us. What do you think?
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:03:13 +0000