Who Do you Serve? - Ja. 4:7, 10

"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw close to God and he will draw close to you... When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor." Ja. 4:7, 10

When I was reading about King Hezekiah's reforms in 2 Chr. today, I was really wondering how God was going to respond to some of the liberties he was taking with God's law. From allowing relatives of the Levites help prepare the sacrifices, to changing the actual day of the Passover celebration, to even allowing people who were not properly purified to eat the Passover meal. All I could think about was that guy who was worried that the Ark would fall off the cart, reached out to steady it, and was killed by God on the spot! It was comforting to read, "And the Lord listened to Hezekiah's prayer and healed the people." 2Ch. 30:20 Hezekiah did exactly what was prescribed in this verse in James: He humbled himself before God by recognizing his ancestors' past sins, resisted the devil by implementing some very unpopular reforms (he was laughed at!), kept his focus on what God desired and put his dependence completely on him. God honored Hezekiah. It appears that God's focus was on the attitude of his heart, not simply the letter of the law--I am not used to seeing this in the O.T. Maybe, through their actions, the people just didn't give God a chance to reveal this aspect of his personality as much! God always told them that if they turned to him, he would save them and provide for all their needs. Here he showed it.

God does not expect me to be perfect, he expects me to recognize who is boss; he expects me to increasingly turn toward him and away from the desires of the world that draw me away; he expects me to admit my dependence on him and bow down before him. I know I am not perfect, but I KNOW I can do these things! Hezekiah's HEART was in the right place, that is what God honored. I must examine my heart and motives on a daily basis. I must be seeking what God wants MORE than what I want. I know this can be hard, I know I can be a selfish person.

God, you know my heart. It loves you, but it also enjoys the things of this world. Forgive me if I allow things to get out of balance--keep my focus and dependence on you.

Today's reading: 2Ch. 29-31; Ja. 4