The Lord loved King Hezekiah. When Hezekiah became terminally ill at the age of 39, the Lord healed him and gave him fifteen more years of life (Is 38:5). The Lord even made the sun go backward as a sign of Hezekiah's healing (Is 38:7-8).
King Hezekiah loved the Lord. He conducted himself faithfully and wholeheartedly in the Lord's presence (Is 38:3). "He put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel; and neither before him nor after him was there anyone like him among all the kings of Judah" (2 Kgs 18:5).
Then Hezekiah became proud (2 Chr 32:25). His house was no longer in order (see Is 38:1). He became deathly sick, was miraculously healed, and didn't even thank the Lord for healing him (2 Chr 32:25). Three years after his healing, he fathered a son, Manasseh, and possibly failed in parenting this child, for the son grew up to do "greater evil than all that was done by the Amorites before him" (2 Kgs 21:11).
The great King Hezekiah left a tarnished legacy after such a glorious start to his reign. He fell away from the Lord because of the sin of pride. Pride ruined Hezekiah's love. Resist temptations to pride. Don't lose your love.
| PRAYER: | Father, I choose love instead of pride. |
| PROMISE: | "Those live whom the Lord protects; Yours...the life of my spirit. You have given me health and life." –Is 38:16 |
| PRAISE: | St. Bonaventure was a Doctor of the Church, a Cardinal, a prolific spiritual writer, a leader in the Franciscan order, and a lifelong minister of reconciliation. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College