“The second you waive the question of sanctification or any other thing upon which God gave you light, you begin to get dry rot in your spiritual life. Continually bring the truth out into actuality; work it out in every domain, or the very light you have will prove a curse.” -Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, August 27.
I can surely attest to this! Procrastination has bitten me, I got lazy. God gave me so much, I took it for granted, pushed off what He had laid on my heart–this website. I’m hoping to rectify the situation, but it will take years! And now I’m playing catch up!
2 Chronicles 30:6
6 So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that he may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.
See the post Blood, Guts, and the Lord’s Favor. “…Those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.” That would be people who weren’t slaughtered, killed by various means from bare hands, sword, being plowed over, or some other bloody, torturous method. The remaining people would have witnessed this slaughter. How scarred were they emotionally and mentally?
2 Chronicles 20:7
7 Don’t be like your ancestors and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors so that he made them an object of horror as you yourselves see.
They could see the consequences of not following the Lord. Yet, after Hezekiah made all these big changes, to turn back to the Lord, 2 Chronicles 30:10 says:
10 The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants laughed at them and mocked them.
They still wouldn’t learn, wouldn’t do what was in their own best interest. Why?
How often do I do the same? Procrastination on this blog, as I already said. I know there are other areas of my life, too. I need to be more willing to be open to seeing those areas. I have to recognize something before I can change it.
2 Chronicles 30:20
20 So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
The people were celebrating Passover at the wrong time, breaking almost every rule in the book, but when Hezekiah made it about the hearts, not the ritual, the Lord healed the people!
Maybe Jesus wasn’t born on December 25, but I bet if we have our hearts in the right place, God will forgive the time of year and heal us!
2 Chronicles chapter 30 is an amazing chapter buried in 2 Chronicles! How good to us is our Lord?!