What you do today matters ... a lot!

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Isaiah 39:1–41:16 
Ephesians 1:1-23 
Psalm 66:1-20 
Proverbs 23:25-28

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Isaiah 39:8 (ESV) "Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.' For he thought, 'There will be peace and security in my days.' "

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

If we read our Verse for Today by itself, we would think that it is a very positive, happy verse. Hezekiah spoke to the prophet and said that what God had just said through the prophet was great news that would guarantee "peace and security in my days."

Yet, when we visit the neighborhood that this verse lives in and read the context, our Verse for Today will break your heart.

Previously, Hezekiah had some visitors from a far off (and seemingly insignificant) land called Babylon. Hezekiah didn't seek God's will before showing these envoys all of the wealth of Judah.

When Isaiah, God's prophet, heard about it, he went to pay Hezekiah a visit. He clearly implied that Hezekiah's reckless actions were foolish. He told Hezekiah that there would come a day when the nation from which those envoys came would march an army to Judah and take everything that they saw. Babylon would plunder Judah and "some of (Hezekiah's) own sons" (Isaiah 39:7) would be taken away as captives.

What did Hezekiah think of these words? How did he react when he heard that there was coming a day when Judah would be plundered and his own posterity would be taken as slaves?

Isaiah 39:8 (ESV) "Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.' For he thought, 'There will be peace and security in my days.' "

Hezekiah didn't give a rip about his posterity. He was simply satisfied that he could live and die in peace. His self-centeredness is utterly nauseating.

Friend, do you realize that you (like Hezekiah) can make decisions today that will affect your children, your grandchildren, and beyond?

If you are a half-hearted Christian, you may think that simply trying to be a moral person is good enough. You attend church periodically. You at least dust off your Bible once a week to take it with you to church. You offer up a prayer every now and then before meals or when life gets tough. Your relationship with God is apathetic at best.

But, your children are watching. They see that the relationship you have with the Lord isn't real. They see that it's just a thin veneer and not the real thing. So, they won't be drawn to it. They will get out of church and forsake God when they get the chance because they will have come to the conclusion that it isn't real. And then they will raise your grandchildren who might stray even farther who will then raise their children...

Decisions you are making today will affect generations of men and women who will come after you. Don't be like Hezekiah who only cared for himself and didn't care for his posterity. Care enough for your descendants to passionately pursue God today and the rest of your life.