2 Kings 18 today and Hezekiah becomes king and does what so many kings before him refused to do. He tears down the high places. He destroys the idols. He restores true worship. Then Assyria comes against Judah. Fear begins creeping in. Hezekiah has a moment where he tries to solve the problem in his own strength, and then the king of Assyria begins mocking not only Hezekiah, but God Himself, trying to convince God's people that trusting Him is pointless.
There are a dozen different devotions in this one chapter. But as I kept reading, I found myself stopping at something that almost feels like a side note. The bronze snake.
If you've been reading through the Bible with me, you probably remember it from Numbers. God told Moses to make a bronze snake so that when the Israelites looked at it in faith, they would live. It wasn't magic. It was never meant to become an object of worship. It was just something God used in a specific moment to point His people back to Him.
Hundreds of years later, the people were still burning incense to it. Something God had used had become something they worshipped.
How often do we still do that today. Not with bronze snakes But with the way God moved yesterday.
Sometimes we become so attached to a tradition that we forget the God who gave it. We hold so tightly to a past experience that we stop expecting Him to do something new. And we defend methods more than we chase after His presence.
Hezekiah wasn't rejecting what God had done. He was removing what people had turned into an idol.
Are we holding onto Jesus, Or are we holding onto the memory of something Jesus once did?
Those aren't always the same thing.
I like what's familiar. I like knowing what to expect. I order the same thing everything at whatever restaurant we go to and sit in the same spot every Sunday at church. I like remembering the moments where God met me in powerful ways. But I never want to become so focused on yesterday's move of God that I miss what He's speaking today.
The same God who met Moses in the wilderness is still the same God who healed through the bronze snake and he's the same God who protected Hezekiah. And that same God Is still speaking to us today. He's still leading and calling His people to trust Him.
Revival doesn't always start by adding something new. Sometimes it begins by letting go of something we've held onto for too long.
Because somewhere along the way, it quietly took God's place.
So we need tonask ourselves are we pursuing the presence of God or just the memories of God?
I don't want to build my faith around what He did years ago. I want a relationship with the God who is still moving today.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily Reading 2 Kings 18
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