Return to faithfulness
Day 280, Sunday, May 18
2 Chronicles Chapter 29 – 31:1
With Hezekiah we have a king who is not only good and righteous, but is also a reformer committed to restoring temple worship and the faithfulness of the nation.
It is interesting to read the process of removing defilements from the temple and restoring the objects that belong there—it sounds more like a spring cleaning project than a religious rite, which is probably an honest report of how it really happened.
We even read of several cases of following the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law, with Levites helping with work that should be done by priests and even changing the time of the celebration of the Passover to accommodate the shortage of priests and the rushed timetable. These are not portrayed as disobedience, though.
The first offering, of seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats is fairly modest compared to some we have read about, but is obviously sincere.
When Hezekiah sends a letter out across the land asking people to return, he is clear that only a remnant is left: “People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.”

Sunday meditation

Proverbs 28:6-7
Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.
A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

Prayer focus
May we return to the Lord, that he may return to us.

-Rev. Mark Fleming