Be Humble Enough to Serve the Lord Faithfully

Note from today’s Bible reading: 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48

When Hezekiah sought to restore the observance of the Passover, he sent “a proclamation throughout all Israel…that they should come to celebrate the Passover…at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was prescribed” (2 Chronicles 30:5).

This was long after the kingdom divided. The northern kingdom (Israel) had abandoned the worship of God as He prescribed. So the proclamation admonished them to “not be like [their] fathers…who were unfaithful to the Lord… but yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God” (2 Chronicles 30:7-8).

Unfortunately, many of those who heard the messengers “laughed them to scorn and mocked them” (2 Chronicles 30:10). Yet some of them had the appropriate response: “Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 30:11).

The difference between those who rejected the invitation and those who received it was their humility. Those willing to recognize and admit their failure to keep God’s law up to that point accepted the invitation. Those who were too arrogant to admit that they and their fathers were wrong did not. These same two attitudes are the determining factor today as to whether someone will accept God’s instructions or reject them.

So be humble enough to serve the Lord faithfully. Just because we (or our family) have always done something does not make it right. We need to follow the word of God, even if it means doing things differently than we have done before.