AUGUST 25, 2021 CAC LIVING WATER DEVOTIONAL : TOPIC – THE TEMPTATION OF SUCCESS
Read previous CAC Living Water Devotionals here
LIVING WATER CAC DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Wednesday, August 25, 2021.
THE TEMPTATION OF SUCCESS
Read: 2 Kings 20:12-17
2 Kings 20: 12-17 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness.
Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?” “From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”
The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?” “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:
The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.
MEMORISE: Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. (2 Kings 20:13)
EXPOSITION
The temptation of success is a temptation common to many, especially those in the ministry. Some call it the danger of success or respite. Many men who stand strong against the temptations of failure and weakness fail under the temptations of success and strength. At times of great success, it is easy to become proud and reckless. This can lead to great destruction if we forget that we depends on God’s grace for our successes, to both get and retain them.
King Hezekiah, one of the two kings in Judah who completely followed the Lord, was sick to the points of death. He begged God to help him recover, and God, by the Word of prophet Isaiah granted him the desire recovery and an additional 15 years to His lifetime. Meanwhile, the neighbouring king of Babylon heard about Hezekiahs illness and miraculous deliverance, and sent envoys to spy out whether the situation made Israel ripe for conquest.
Hezekiah could have seized the opportunity to testify to the Babylonian envoys about the greatness of Yahweh and His blessings on Judah. But the glorified himself by showing them all the house of his treasures and armoury. It appears that his prosperity, success, and deliverance from sickness had made him arrogant and full of himself. Was he not already subtly thinking like Nebuchadnezzar. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.(Deut.4v30) He was proud of the honours the Babylonians brought. Rattan giving credit to God for all his blessings and deliverance he tried to impress the foreigners. He did every thing he could to impress them. Showing them the very best riches of the royal household-all his secrets. May you not realise your most sensetiveI information in the hands of your enemy. Amen.
When God help us, we must not use His help to impress others. A testimony of victory quickly degenerates into vanity and self-congratulations, if care isn’t duly taken.
PRAYER POINTS:
1. Father, empower me with the Holy Spirit to over come the temptations of success.
2. Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to always testify to Your greatness and goodness in my life to others.
3. Pray that our elected officers politically and otherwise would always see God as the Giver of all, and not be bragging unnecessarily, or because needlessly domineering.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Psalms 72:18 – 75:9, Romans 16:1 – 16:22