New Year’s Devotion – Seek the Lord!

SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND!

Today’s Bible boost comes from the Old Testament Isaiah 55 and verse 6, “seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.”

King Ahaz, King of Judah was at the end of his rope. He had come from a very Godly dynasty. His father Jotham, his grandfather Uzziah and his great grandfather Amaziah were among the best in the lineage of King David. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah was one of the most noted for his godly faith in the entire history of Judah.

However, King Ahaz was an unfortunate exception. II Kings 16:3 states that King Ahaz, “walked in the way of the kings of the north, and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following detestable ways of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites”.

It was at this point that God sent the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz to beseech him to turn from his evil ways. However, instead of turning from his evil ways it did the exact opposite. He took silver and gold from the temple of Almighty God and gave it as a gift to the King of Assyria. He further prostituted his faith by going to Damascus and sending back detailed instructions on how to build a pagan altar. He was in such a rush to profane the House of God that the pagan altar was completed by the time King Ahaz returned from his journey and replaced the true altar in the temple of God.

Also, he removed the laver where the priests of God purified themselves and removed the covered entrance was intended for the Kings of Judah and prepared to accommodate the evil king of Assyria.

At his lowest point he sought help alright…but it wasn’t from God. He bankrupted his country financially, politically, and spiritually to please the king of Assyria and did nothing to please the God of heaven.

In the short term his strategy worked. Assyria came to King Ahaz’s defense and gave him temporary protection from his enemies. But in the long term the king found that Assyria was a good servant but a terrible master. The Bible says, in the end the country of Judah was brought low because of her king, King Ahaz.

Undoubtedly, many of us, like King Ahaz come to the end of our rope. It seems that the enemy has made great progress and we feel like we are on the verge of utter collapse and defeat. It seems like we are surrounded by problems, unnerving circumstances and heavy, oh so heavy, burdens as 2020 has presented these things.

It is at such a time as these that we must not resort to a quick fix or a short term solution. Many of our earthly solutions really offends the God of heaven. Never should we bow, scrape or sacrifice to anyone or anything but to the Lord.

There will be moments when we face fiery furnaces that it seems expedient to bow down to a golden image. There will be times when we are tempted to avoid some den of lions by neglecting our commitment to God. We dread the dark moments of despair and depression.

When we face such times hear the word of Isaiah when he was sent to prophesy to King Ahaz. Not only hear the words of Isaiah, but may we do the opposite of King Ahaz. May we hear and OBEY.

Here’s our bible boost for today. “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.” King Ahaz refused to do so and it cost him his life and his kingdom.