Make It Your Business
King Hezekiah reigned in Judah for 29 years and his devotion to the Lord surpassed that of his predecessors who abandoned God. Scripture says that his father, king Ahaz, did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and even burned one of his sons as an offering according to the despicable practices of the neighboring nations (2 Kings 16).
Hezekiah's reign marked a departure from his predecessors' evil ways by being faithful to God and doing what was right in His eyes. Furthermore, he removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the idol god Asherah that his fathers had set up in Judah. Scriptures say that Hezekiah trusted in the Lord the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him (2 Kings 18).
Isaiah 38:1-5
1 In those days, Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
We easily make matters our business when directly involved. If one gets a poor doctor’s report; they pray to God for healing. And when confronted by a challenging life situation; they turn to God in prayer and fasting to seek God’s reprieve and guidance. We rarely need reminding to make it our business to seek God on our own behalf.
When Isaiah brought Hezekiah the devastating news of his impending death, Hezekiah pleaded with the Lord to remember his faithfulness to the LORD. He made it his business to pray for himself. The Lord listened and granted him fifteen more years.
Following his recovery, emissaries from Babylon came to congratulate Hezekiah on regaining his health. In return, Hezekiah showcased to the Babylonians all his wealth and that of the kingdom in an action deemed prideful by God. For a second time, God sent the prophet Isaiah to the king, this time to reprimand him for his pride. However, upon hearing the Lord’s rebuke of his actions, Hezekiah responded with indifference, even though dire consequences were to follow.
Isaiah 39:1-8
1 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
During that time, it took about four months for a journey of approximately 900 miles from Babylon to Jerusalem without mechanized transport. So when Hezekiah showed off all the kingdom’s wealth to the Babylonians, he must have thought they posed no threat to Jerusalem, considering the geographic distance between the two kingdoms.
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
Isaiah conveyed God’s judgment of Hezekiah’s actions. Later, the Babylonians would take all the kingdom’s treasures and some royal descendants captive to Babylon.
One might think that Hezekiah recognized his error and the gravity of the impending consequences for the kingdom, that he made it his business and sought divine intervention through fervent prayer and fasting, as he had done for his personal well-being. But he didn’t.
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”
Hezekiah remained unconcerned so long as the exile and plundering of the treasures did not occur during his lifetime. I refer to this as the "Hezekiah Attitude," as long as peace and security prevail in my affairs, it is of no concern to me.
And as the Lord had foretold through Isaiah, after about 100 years and five generations from Hezekiah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made. Nebuchadnezzar also took descendants of Hezekiah as captives and made them eunuchs. In addition, he also burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem that the city was left desolate. (2 Kings 24 & 25).
There are some things in our lives we neglect or refuse to concern ourselves with right now because there is “peace and security in our days” that will have devastating consequences for us and/or for the future generations. For some of us, when warmed from the scriptures or through the conviction of the Holy Spirit about sin in our lives, like Hezekiah, we think to ourselves; as long as there is “peace and security” now, as long as I am not facing the consequence of my sin now, I will not deal with it.
On two separate occasions, Hezekiah received bad news, and his response was different on both occasions. In response to the first news, he turned to God and pleaded for his life, but for the latter, he did nothing. The impact of the first news was immediate and personal while that of the second was distant and general.
Examples of people who made it their business:
However, Hezekiah stands in contrast to the many biblical examples of individuals who actively made it their business on others' behalf or who did so corporately, to some of whom we shall now turn our focus.
Abraham interceded for Sodom in order save Lot
While traveling to Sodom, the LORD and two angels appeared to Abraham, who offered them food for their strength before they could continue on their journey. But before their departure, the LORD informed Abraham of His plans for Sodom.
Genesis 18:20, 22-33 (ESV)
20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
Although the LORD didn't specify his plans for Sodom and Gomorrah after he had verified the outcry about the cities, Abraham understood the impending doom that he promptly interceded for Sodom, the city in which his nephew Lot and family lived.
22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
The LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire but spared Lot, his wife, and their daughters because of Abraham’s intercession.
Genesis 19:29
29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Moses interceded for Israel on their exodus from Egypt
When Moses delayed on the mountain where he had gone to meet God, Aaron and the people of Israel made a golden calf, worshipped it and sacrificed to it. Because of this, God's anger arose, and He made a proposition to Moses:
Exodus 32:9-10
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
Now let’s suppose Moses’s attitude towards God’s proposition was that of personal interest. He would have responded to the Lord this way:
“Yes Lord, please do it. Destroy them all and make a great nation out of me. Besides murmuring about the food, water and the heat, they have also talked about stoning me. Please God, finish them.” Moses’ attitude was that of trying to save the entire group from God’s wrath. He made it his business and interceded for all the people that the Lord’s anger would relent.
Exodus 32:11-14
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
Although Moses wasn’t part of those who were going to be destroyed, he made it his business to plead before the Lord to have mercy on them. You don’t have to be part of a situation to make it your business before God.
Daniel interceded for captive Israel in Babylon
As a captive in Babylon in the exile prophesied by Isaiah to king Hezekiah, Daniel understood from reading the book of Jeremiah that Israel’s captivity in Babylon was to be for seventy years and that it was nearing its end. This knowledge moved Daniel to make it his business to turn to the Lord in prayer and fasting for the freedom of Israel from captivity.
Daniel 9:16-19
16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
Ezra's account confirms that, in 538 BC, Persian king Cyrus decreed the return of Jewish exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple and city. Furthermore, Cyrus returned the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem.
You don’t have to be the direct benefactor of something to make it your business to take it before God. Though Daniel was the one through prayer and fasting who sought the Lord's help to free the Jews from captivity, yet he didn't return with them, having died of old age in Babylon.
Friends of the paralytic
One day Jesus was teaching in a house and some men brought their paralytic friend to be healed by Jesus. But the crowd prevented them from reaching Jesus and the men made it their business and improvised another way to get their sick friend to Jesus.
Luke 5:18-20
18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Make it your business to train up your kids in the way they should grow. The way of Christ. Scriptures say; a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. Make it your business to leave a spiritual inheritance of the knowledge of God for your child.
Make it your business to know what your kids learn in their schools. If you don’t give your kids the lens through which to see the world, someone else will do it. Let the education of your kids start at the dinner table at home with you.
Make it your business to find out about the welfare of your Christian brothers and sisters. When a family member doesn’t come home for a few days, we usually file a missing person’s report with the authorities. What do we do when a brother or sister in Christ does not come for fellowship for an extended time? We make it our business and file a report with the ultimate authority; God. We do this by praying for them and checking on their welfare.
Make it your business to pray for your country. Don’t leave issues of the nation to the legislature. Intercede for the nation. A lot of Christians talk about revival; true revival starts in individual hearts, then in our families, then in our communities, and then it spreads to the entire nation.
Make it your business to advance the kingdom of God. God gave the great commission to all disciples. With whatever means God would have you use, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20).
Amen
All Scriptures are qouted from the English Standard Vesion translation.
