September 22: “Follow Jesus For Your Descendants”

4 Minute Read + Scripture readings

TODAY’S BIBLE READING:

Isaiah 39:1–41:16
Ephesians 1:1-23
Psalm 66:1-20
Proverbs 23:25-28

TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Isaiah 39:8 (CSB): “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,’ for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.”

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):

If we read our Verse for Today by itself, we would think that it is a very positive, happy verse. Hezekiah spoke to the prophet and said that what God had just said through the prophet was great news that would guarantee “peace and security during my lifetime.”

Yet, when we visit the neighborhood that this verse lives in and read the context, our Verse for Today will break your heart.

Previously, Hezekiah entertained some visitors from a far off (and seemingly insignificant) land called Babylon. Hezekiah didn’t seek God’s will before showing these envoys all of the wealth of Judah.

When Isaiah, God’s prophet, heard about it, he went to pay Hezekiah a visit. He clearly implied that Hezekiah’s reckless actions were foolish. He told Hezekiah that there would come a day when the nation from which those envoys came would march an army to Judah and take everything that they saw. Babylon would plunder Judah and some of Hezekiah’s own descendants (Isaiah 39:7) would be taken away as captives.

What did Hezekiah think of these words? How did he react when he heard that there was coming a day when Judah would be plundered and his own posterity would be taken as slaves?

Isaiah 39:8 (CSB): “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,’ for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.”

Hezekiah didn’t seem to care about his descendants. He was simply satisfied that he could live and die in peace. It seemed as if he was demonstrating a self-centeredness that was gratified that at least things would go well during his lifetime.

Friend, do you realize that we (like Hezekiah) can make decisions today that will affect our children, our grandchildren, and beyond?

If we are half-hearted Christians, we may think that simply trying to be a moral person is good enough. We attend church periodically. We dust off our Bible at least once a week to take it with us to church. We offer up a prayer every now and then before meals or when life gets tough. Our relationship with God is apathetic at best.

But, if that is true of us, our children are watching. They will see that the relationship we have with the Lord isn’t real. They see that it’s just a thin veneer and not the real thing. So, they won’t be drawn to it. They will get out of church and forsake God when they get the chance because they will have come to the conclusion that it isn’t real. And then they will raise our grandchildren who might stray even farther who will then raise their children …

Decisions we are making today about our seriousness of following Jesus will affect generations of men and women who will come after us.

Don’t be like Hezekiah who only cared for himself and didn’t care for his posterity. Care enough for your descendants to passionately pursue God today and the rest of your life.