8“The world of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will peace and security in my lifetime.”
Shortsighted and selfish motives seem to captivate our day. But this is not a new phenomenon. As our passage shows, king Hezekiah was thinking only of himself. He traded the future safety and security of the nation for his own present calm. Judgment was coming on the nation. They had been running from the Lord for too long. God’s kindness had extended over them, despite their continuing in their sin. Hezekiah humbled himself during a fatal sickness. The Lord healed him, but at a price. He received 15 more years of life, but they were some of the most sinful years of any king in Israel. And when judgment came, it came hard and strong. I am afraid we have done the same thing with our children’s future. We have racked up the debt without a real thought to our children’s children. They will never be able to survive the coming debt crisis. And all this because we are not willing to bear the burden we have created. I hope that the next couple of years will bring a radical change in leadership in our country. We must pay our debts no matter how painful it will be. If we don’t, our children and grandchildren will all suffer greatly. This is true of our sin as well. When we are not willing to repent, the cost to the future increase exponentially. Our sin will ripple down through the generations. We must pay the price in self-discipline. We must humble ourselves before the Lord and receive the forgiveness and grace we need to overcome. The price will be great, but the dividends to the future will be greater than we can imagine.
The Arnold Journey 