In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah came to him and said, “Thus says the Lord: set your house in order; for you shall die and not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and said “Remember now, O Lord I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah—“Go and tell Hezekiah that I have heard his prayer and seen his tears; behold I will add fifteen years to his life” (Isa. 38:1-5).

Hezekiah was one of the best kings that Judah ever had in the lineage of David. When the King of Babylon heard that he had recovered from his illness, he sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah. Hezekiah welcomed the Babylonian guests and innocently showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armoury, and all that was found in his storehouses.

The faux pas that Hezekiah committed in the time frame of life extended by God, affected the future of Judah’s fortunes. Having seen all the wealth and the armoury in the house of Judah, the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar came many years later during the reign of king Jehoiachin and king Zedekiah and ravaged Jerusalem to the ground, to take away all the treasures and even some of his own sons to make them eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon (11 kings 24 & 25).

We learn from the life of Hezekiah, that a little indiscretion in revealing the precious things we own to outsiders, can lead to the ruination of our future.

Thought for the Day:  A spiritually discerning person will keep certain things in life which God has blessed - always under wraps!