MAIN IDEA
When we return to Christ daily, we glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

GOD INVITES US TO RETURN TO WORSHIP
Assyria was on a military rampage gobbling up one kingdom after another. Against that backdrop, the first thing that Hezekiah did as king was to repair and consecrate the temple, as well as to consecrate the Levites and priests for service in the temple. Once the temple and the Levites and priests were consecrated, he invited all of Judah and all of Israel to come and worship at the temple by celebrating the Passover. For Hezekiah, worshiping God was not just a priority, but it was, in fact, the solution to their crisis! He did prepare militarily, but his hope was in God alone. And that makes no sense unless we fully trust the word of God. The Bible is clear that the primary reason that God has created us is to worship Him. And so, it is important to train our hearts to let nothing distract us from worshiping the Lord. Because when it comes to worship, there is an Audience of Three-in- One—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

GOD INVITES US TO RETURN TO FELLOWSHIP
The gist of the letter that Hezekiah sent throughout the land urges the people to return to God. In it, returning to God involves three things: repentance, submission, and service. Repentance is a daily necessity because sin is a daily struggle. Submission is difficult for us and even offensive to some because of our prideful hearts. But the word of God calls us to submission to Him, and Jesus Christ modeled what submission means by submitting to the cross. And then, in verse 8, the aspect of worship that the word “serve” emphasizes is the aspect of ministering to God. When we come to worship our Lord and God, we are ministering to Him. We are serving God when we worship Him. And so, we ought to serve God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. That is our ministry of presence. But we also serve Christ in many other ways, as well, to build up His church (Ephesians 4:11-16).

GOD INVITES US TO RETURN TO GRACE
The grace of God is the underlying theme throughout the passage, but it is also the major emphasis of this passage. Of all the major Jewish festivals, Passover is the clearest and strongest reminder of God’s covenant grace. Passover was supposed to be celebrated in the first month, but by God’s grace, He made a provision to celebrate Passover in the second month, as Hezekiah did. And later in the story, a very large number of people from Israel came to celebrate. But most of them were ritually impure and were not supposed to participate in Passover. But Hezekiah prayed for them, and by God’s grace, “the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people” (verse 20). When our hearts are set on seeking God, God has an abundance of grace in store for us. God does not delight in pouring out His anger in this world because of sin. Rather, “the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him” (verse 9).

DISCUSSION QUESTION (Choose one or more of the following questions):

• What are some things that might distract us from worshiping God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind?

• What people or organizations do you serve, and how might that give us a clue as to what it means to serve God?

• In what way can you serve your house church, if you are not doing so already?

• From a scale of 1-10 (1 being little, 10 being a lot), how much grace do you need in your life today? Why?