June 14

All in all, Hezekiah was a pretty decent king over Judah. He improved Jerusalem's infrastructure and defense, he eliminated pagan worship throughout the country, and he prayed a lot. Not a bad king at all. He is regarded as one of the good guys; one who was faithful.

When he died, Hezekiah's 12 year old kid took over, Manasseh. Over his 52 year reign Manasseh did his best to undo every religious reform his father had accomplished. He even brought idols into the Temple itself.

Later on, when Manasseh was in Assyrian captivity, he cried out to the God he had rejected, and repented. God allowed Manasseh to return to Judah. And once back, Manasseh did away with almost all of the pagan worship he had previously promoted. Then he too died.

After that, Manasseh's son, Amon, took over. Amon was profoundly evil. His reign lasted just 2 years before his household servants killed him. (Must've been a swell boss.) Then the citizens of Jerusalem killed the household servants. A mess!

From good to bad to worse. In just 3 generations.

It's been said (by whom, I forget) that with faith left unattended: "The 1st generation believes, the 2nd generation assumes, the 3rd generation doubts and the 4th generation ignores."

(When you see a church with one elderly generation, and none following, the chain broke somewhere along the way.)

Perhaps the glaring question for each of us is, "Which generation am I?" Admittedly, most of us know the right answer, the hoped for answer, yet may not be totally confident in our answer.

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

In other words, the Lord gives Himself to those who delight in Him.

Charles Spurgeon explained it this way, saying, "Too many others are content to profess faith in Jesus, but never see their Christian life as a delightful thing. To them, it's a service, a duty, or a necessity. If they apply themselves to religion at all, it's either in hope of getting something, or because they dare not do otherwise."

"This results in two words that couldn't be farther apart from each other: holiness...and delight."

So here on another Sunday morning. And it's raining. And we're on Zoom again. (Adequate, but not ideal.)

Is my delight truly in Jesus? Do I find my greatest joy in Him? Can I think of nothing more exhilarating than to devote time this morning to worship Him?

And be a part of the believing generation?

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau