More on Break Away

II Kings 18:4: Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

2: Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem.  His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

3: And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

4: He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

 

 

 

 

 

For Hezekiah breaking off old relationships and attachments meant going directly against his father's example.  His father had modified the altar and worship to reflect those of the practices at Damascus.  This disregard for God's direction could easily have become Hezekiah's pattern.  He chose to break away.

Hezekiah's local example in the kings and leaders of Israel was worse than his father's example.  They had been living against the direction of God for some years.  His peer relationships were of a type that would corrupt a lessor man.  Hezekiah chose a way of strength.

Breaking away takes character.  Breaking away takes tenacity.  Breaking away takes a vision of a different future.  Hezekiah saw the destruction that had come on Israel and Judah and decided he wanted a different life for the nation.  Hezekiah was committed to changing his community for the better.

RESPOND WITH ACTION: Is there a vision of a better future in your heart?  Is there a vision of what is wrong that needs fixing?  Can you see the connection between the parts that need fixing and the unfulfilled vision?  Spend time looking and listening with your heart to find the right things to work on first.  Then get to work at fixing them.

PRAY WITH FAITH: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.  I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  His way and His truth are my shield and my buckler.

Lord, show me Your path.  Show me Your ways.  Cause me to only follow Your will and Your way.  When I veer to the left, speak to me.  When I veer to the right, guide me back on the straight path.  Let my heart be open to the voice of Your Holy Spirit to guide and direct me continually.

You are my God and my Life.  I love You and love Your ways.

Quotes on Greatness

"It is not truth that makes man great; but man that makes truth great." ~ Confucius

A man does not show his greatness by being at one extremity, but rather by touching both at once." ~ Blaise Pascal

Greatness breaks laws. ~ Louise Nevelson

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. ~ John Steinbeck

They're only truly great who are truly good. ~ George Chapman

To be great is to be misunderstood. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes up his mind to do. We are all capable of greater things than we realize. ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. ~ Mark Twain

It is not enough to be very good if you have the ability to be great. ~ Alberta Lee Cox

Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher that you think. ~ Benjamin Disraeli

And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness; Round our restlessness, His rest. ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Great men hallow a whole people, and lift up all who live in their time. ~ Johns Hopkins

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown. ~ Charles De Gaulle

I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Great people are those who can make others feel that they, too, can become great. ~ Mark Twain

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. ~ Albert Einstein

 

BREAK IT OFF!   GET SMART!