Hezekiah, The Poster Boy For Selfishness

In 2 Kings 20 there is a story about Hezekiah, one of the Kings of Judah. In the beginning of the story he is close to death, and Isaiah the prophet comes to him and tells him to set his house in order, because he is going to die. Hezekiah cries out to the Lord to heal him, and God does so, telling him that he will even add fifteen years to his life.

Later on, some men from Babylon come to visit and bring him a gift because the king of Babylon had heard he was sick. Hezekiah shows them everything in his palace, all the royal treasuries, all his riches and wealth. When the men leave, Isaiah shows up and asks about them. After Hezekiah told Isaiah all that he had done, the prophet tells him that there will come a day when everything will be carried off to Babylon, and even his own descendants will be taken away and become servants to the king there.

It is in verse 19 that I noticed what could be described as the best definition of selfishness I've ever seen. "The Word of the Lord you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?" I mean how selfish is that? He gets a word from the Lord that Jerusalem and all in it will be carried off to a foreign land, and all he can think about is, "Well at least I won't be here to see that."

In Proverbs 13:22 it says, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." It's interesting that when Hezekiah was sick he called out to the Lord to heal him, but when he heard what was going to happen to his own family and country he thought that was good, all because he wouldn't be around to experience it. Talk about being truly selfish at your core.

I don't know about you, but I want to learn from Hezekiah's example of what "not" to do. I don't want to be so selfish in my thinking that all I can think about is how will this effect me and what can I get for myself? I want to be that good man that leaves an inheritance for my children's children. Not the selfish dolt who spends everything on myself not caring what happens to my descendants down the line.

Get 'em up folks, there are enough selfish people out there, let's go whip something and be selfless in the process. For the Kingdom and the King!