Hezekiah’s father was a pagan. He closed up the Temple, followed the gods of other nations, and made altars to them on the corners of Jerusalem and in every city in Judah. When Hezekiah came to the throne, reestablishing worship of God appears to have been his first order of business. On the first day of his reign, he had the Levites begin cleansing and repairing the Temple. On the eighth day, the cleansing was complete and sacrifices to the Lord resumed. I found myself wondering what was the source of his zeal for God. Did he see the fruit of his father’s way, which included defeat at the hands of many neighbors and the resulting loss of territory and captivity of his people? Did he have a mother who was a believer and taught him the ways of God? Maybe he had godly counselors who were influential before he came to the throne? We don’t know. But we do know that on the first day of his reign his goal was restoring the worship of the true God. His own reign was not trouble free, but his faithfulness made a difference when Assyria attacked Jerusalem. I am reminded that God also deserves to be my number one priority. When he is preeminent in my life, the other claims on my life are in proper balance; it helps me live life in the best possible way.
Good job.