Sunday Reading: 2 Chronicles 30:17-20
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 30:19
19 who prepares his heart to seek God, Jehovah, the God of his fathers, though not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
Devotion:
When Hezekiah came to power he wanted to turn the people round to do God’s will rather than following their various gods that they had created. The first Passover that he and all the people were going to observe was not going to be on time and it was even going to break a rule too. So why did God end up healing the people from their sinful ways? The answer lay not in the exacting law that was laid down for them to follow but in the grace of God.
There are going to be times in our lives when we face having to do things earlier or later than they should be done because of the time constraints on our lives. There are going to be times in our lives when we are not going to be able to observe the rules God has given us. These times should not be taken lightly and should not be taken as a matter of course because that they are not! Hezekiah knew that he would not be able to get things sorted in time for the priests and the Levites to be able to make themselves pure through the ways laid down by God. It took time and a lot of soul searching for each one to get themselves right with God.
There-in lays the clue. It took a whole lot of soul searching. Each person had to sort themselves out with God and the only way that they were going to do that was to spend time in prayer with Him and to follow the rules that He had given them. When they showed Him that they were willing to admit to their sins and ask for His forgiveness then He would be just to do that. So many people came forward to try and have their sins atoned that there was simply not enough time to sacrifice enough. People were coming forward knowing in their hearts that they needed God to forgive them. That is what God was looking for, for people being honest with Him and admitting to their sins. That is why when Hezekiah asked God to forgive even those that had not been cleansed through sacrifice, God was willing to do that...
Points to Ponder:
When you do things for others is it because you have to or want to?
Do you ask God for forgiveness because you have to or because you want to?
