Submitted by St. Luke’s Church

SALISBURY — King Hezekiah made an important choice that changed the course of his nation. He ordered the Levites to cleanse the temple beginning on the first day of the new year. Consider: 

Hezekiah’s position — As the new king, he had authority over the nation to make decisions for it and a fair amount of inherited wealth at his disposal. He had abilities, both God-given giftings and training he received and he had time: 29 years to be king. Above all he had the power of choice. He got to decide what to do with all he had. You and I have all these things too, and we get to choose what to do with them in the new year.

Hezekiah’s examples — His immediate example was his father Ahaz, (2 Chron.  28:1-4, 22-26) who had promoted idol worship and child sacrifice in Judah. Ahaz also destroyed Temple articles and shut the Temple doors, keeping the people from worshiping the Lord. But Hezekiah also had another example. His ancestor, King David, was a man after God’s own heart who loved and worshiped the Lord. And although David had sinned greatly in his life, he confessed his sin, repented of it and was forgiven by God.

You also have good and bad examples in your life, and you can choose which ones to follow. An alcoholic father can influence a child to follow his example or reject it completely. 

The same sun that melts wax also hardens clay. It is not what happens to you, but how you choose to react. Hezekiah could have continued with what he knew but he wanted something better. Do you? 

Hezekiah’s plan — The king ordered the Temple be reopened so the people could worship God again. He recognized the sin of the nation, confessing their unfaithfulness to God and all the evil they had done in His sight. He also realized the awful results of their sin which led to so much destruction and sorrow in the nation. Not wanting to continue down this path, he ordered that everything be removed from the Temple that was defiling it, making it pure again. In this way he rededicated the temple to the Lord, making a covenant with God to follow Him and challenged others to be faithful as well.

So, how do Hezekiah’s actions apply to me? The Bible says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

As God’s Temple, we should follow Hezekiah’s example for the new year before us. 

• Reestablish (or establish) a relationship with God, by trusting Christ to save you from your sins.
• Recognize sin in your life. Are there actions or attitudes that don’t belong in God’s Temple? 
• Realize sins results. What has sin done to you? How has it hurt you and others? Where will it lead? 
• Remove sin from our life. What needs to be done? What actions can you take? Will you? 
• Rededicate yourself to the Lord. Pray and recommit your life to serving Him in the new year.

Hezekiah could have easily ruled as his father had. But he decided that he wanted to do things differently. He wanted his life to honor God and he wanted to do things better. What do you want for the new year?