Hezekiah as king accomplished a number of things. He was king when God defeated the Assyrian
army. He was king when God gave him
fifteen years of additional life; but in our text Hezekiah, the king, had led
the nation back into temple worship. The
people had been worshipping false gods, but through Hezekiah’s dedication to
God the altars of the false gods were destroyed and worship of Jehovah was
returned. As a result of this change,
Hezekiah had the priests cleanse themselves and had the people give an offering
of thanksgiving to God.
Our giving, as well,
is a reflection of our gratitude toward God.
The following story sadly illustrates many believers’
gratitude toward the blessings of God.
“Once upon a time
there was a man who had nothing, and God gave him ten apples.
He gave him the first
three apples to eat.
He gave him the second
three apples to trade for shelter from the sun and rain.
He gave him the third
three apples to trade for clothing to wear.
He gave him the last
apple to give back to God in order that he could show his gratitude for the
other nine.
The man ate the first
three apples.
He traded the second
three apples for shelter from the sun and rain.
He traded the third
three apples for clothing to wear.
Then he looked at the
tenth apple. It seemed bigger and
juicier than the rest. He knew that God
had given him the tenth apple so that he might demonstrate his love and
gratitude by returning it to God. But it
was so much bigger and juicier than the rest; and he began to reason within
himself, ‘God has all the other apples in the orchard, he’ll not miss this
one.’ So the man ate the apple and gave
God the core.”
✞ Lay aside a minimum of ten percent of everything you receive and give it to God (through your local church).
