Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? – 2Kgs 20:19 KJV
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The scripture today relates to King Hezekiah of Judah. He had been sick and was dying but was healed by God, so people including kings were coming to felicitate with him on his recovery. One of such people was Berodach-Baladan, the son of the king of Babylon who sent his greetings along with gifts through representatives. Probably carried away by this gesture of Berodach-Baladan, King Hezekiah decided to conduct a tour of his entire palace showing all its treasures to the delegation that came from Berodach-Baladan.
This definitely did not go down well with the Almighty God who sent the Prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah, not only to express his disapproval of what he had done but also to inform him of the repercussions of such an act by him. The shocking aspect of the whole episode was the reaction of Hezekiah to the message from God which is the foundation text of today’s devotion. In his response, Hezekiah revealed that God’s decision to allow the king of Babylon carry all the treasures in the Palace away to Babylon in the future and take Hezekiah’s descendants along as slaves was good, as long as it was not going to happen in his own time. As far as he is concerned, he will at least enjoy peace and truth during his own life time.
The image of an empty palace and treasury, and princes becoming slaves meant nothing whatsoever to Hezekiah since it was not going to happen in his life time so he did not deem it necessary to appeal for leniency or mitigation from the Lord. This is a man who just proved how lenient and compassionate God can be by enjoying supernatural healing from the Lord after praying to avert death (Is. 38;1-5), but did not deem it necessary to at least, attempt to deploy such abilities to save his future generation from slavery and poverty.
Most Christians today live this kind of life, a life that leaves huge liabilities for their future generations and they really do not care. As far as they are concerned, the fact that it was not going to happen to them or during their life time was most important as it will mean that they have gotten away with the wrong that they committed. All Ministrations and appeals for moral and godly conduct means nothing to them as long as they are comfortable and so are not really interested in changing their ways. Could it be that what you are going through today is part of the inheritance that your father or ancestors Willed to you? Are you doing anything today that will make life very unbearable for your future generations?
What needs to be clear to all is that every action that we put up in this world is like a seed that was planted. It will definitely grow and bring forth fruit in its due season, after all it is part of God’s covenant with Noah that, for as long as the earth exists, seasons of planting and harvesting will not cease – Gen. 8:22. An individual who decides to leave a Will indicating how his assets will be shared after departing this world should know that those assets are not limited to those physical acquisitions only but also to the spiritual ones too, just as it is not only the assets that will be considered but also the liabilities.
You may not be able to know what your ancestors did that may be affecting you negatively today, but you definitely know what you are doing today that can become a spiritual burden for your generations coming after you. You should continue doing whatever you are doing if you consider it to be positive and it will not be a liability for your future generations to bear but, if not good, it is better to desist from such acts as it would not be nice of you to follow the uncaring path of King Hezekiah. Why prepare negative inheritance for people coming after you when you can avoid it?
With regards to you going through tough times today, you may need to plead with God for mercy especially if you are aware of possible acts of family members of past generations that may be the root cause of your situation today. God is a merciful God and he is willing to forgive all those acts and save you from their repercussions.
I pray that God will guide all our acts today, to prevent us transferring liabilities to our future generations and will save us from the weight of the liabilities passed unto us by past generations, if there is any in Jesus name. Amen.