It's the news no one wants to hear. Things are much worse than imagined; you've only a short time to live. And that's not just the doctor's prognosis; it's God's - "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.' " (2 Kings 20.1) It doesn't get any more definite than that.
King Hezekiah, recipient of this bad news, reacted as anyone would have: " 'Please Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what is good in Your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly." (2 Kings 20:3) We all love life, and the prospect of life's end is cause for sorrow. But, the end of this story is not the end of King Hezekiah's life.
"Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, 'I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' " (2 Kings 20.4-6)
God granted this godly king a fifteen-year life extension. During that time it appears that he was industrious and productive (verse 20), as anyone would be under similar circumstances. But, I suspect this life extension was a type of two-edged sword: he savored the privilege of a life extension but, at the same time, lived under its sentence. He lived with a fifteen year date with death.
Whether we've been given a specific prognosis or not, we're all terminal. Fifteen years, months, weeks, days, hours, or seconds - none of us knows for sure. Life is more fleeting than we know, and this moment more precious than we realize. What is it that our Father has placed on our hearts this moment? A relationship to be mended? A friendship to be rekindled? A spiritual conversation to be initiated? This burden is His plan for action.
Life is best lived from the end backwards - "Lord, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how transitory I am." (Psalm 39.4) Such perspective is not morbid or pessimistic, but realistic. The sooner we truly face our mortality, the sooner we frame life's great priorities.
Today is a Matthew 6.33 and Matthew 6.10 day (carefully read these if the references aren't readily clear to you). These priorities are the greatest safeguard against regrets you'll ever have - whether you have fifteen years or fifteen seconds of life to live. Maybe a motto for your bathroom mirror, office at work, or locker at school is in order: "make it count for the kingdom"
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2012
King Hezekiah, recipient of this bad news, reacted as anyone would have: " 'Please Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what is good in Your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly." (2 Kings 20:3) We all love life, and the prospect of life's end is cause for sorrow. But, the end of this story is not the end of King Hezekiah's life.
"Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, 'I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' " (2 Kings 20.4-6)
God granted this godly king a fifteen-year life extension. During that time it appears that he was industrious and productive (verse 20), as anyone would be under similar circumstances. But, I suspect this life extension was a type of two-edged sword: he savored the privilege of a life extension but, at the same time, lived under its sentence. He lived with a fifteen year date with death.
Whether we've been given a specific prognosis or not, we're all terminal. Fifteen years, months, weeks, days, hours, or seconds - none of us knows for sure. Life is more fleeting than we know, and this moment more precious than we realize. What is it that our Father has placed on our hearts this moment? A relationship to be mended? A friendship to be rekindled? A spiritual conversation to be initiated? This burden is His plan for action.
Life is best lived from the end backwards - "Lord, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how transitory I am." (Psalm 39.4) Such perspective is not morbid or pessimistic, but realistic. The sooner we truly face our mortality, the sooner we frame life's great priorities.
Today is a Matthew 6.33 and Matthew 6.10 day (carefully read these if the references aren't readily clear to you). These priorities are the greatest safeguard against regrets you'll ever have - whether you have fifteen years or fifteen seconds of life to live. Maybe a motto for your bathroom mirror, office at work, or locker at school is in order: "make it count for the kingdom"
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2012
posted by steve @ 7:48 AM
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