Living On Borrowed Time

While a freshman in college, I was involved in a wreck, that totaled the car and seriously injured a friend of mine, who was my passenger. Though, my friend fully recovered from his injuries and has no personal recollection of the accident.  I have vivid memories of the accident.  The sights, sounds, and even the smells are etched in my memory.  It was the first time in my life, that I really thought I was about to die.  Since then, I guess you could say, I have been "living on borrowed time."  

Have you ever wished that you had more time?  More time to finish what you started.  More time to spend with loved ones.  More time to make up for what you didn't do.  

In the Bible, there was a king of Judah named Hezekiah, who at age 39, became gravely ill.  God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell him to put his house in order, for soon he would die. (Isaiah 38:1-22)  Hezekiah prayed to God, "Remember me, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes."  And Hezekiah wept bitterly."  In his fourteen years as king, Hezekiah had honored God with his life and reign as ruler over Judah.  He begged God for more time.

God heard Hezekiah's prayer and again spoke through the prophet Isaiah, telling him that God would add fifteen years to his life and deliver the city of Jerusalem and Judah from an Assyrian invasion.  Hezekiah praised God for his "borrowed time,"

"But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this.  I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul...the living-they praise you, as I am doing today: fathers tell their children about your faithfulness."  (Isaiah 38:15, 19).

Sadly, Hezekiah's final fifteen years were not his best.  In 2 Chronicles 32:25, we find that Hezekiah did not keep his vow to God.  "But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown on him or on Judah and Jerusalem."

As time went by, Hezekiah took God's gift of "borrowed time" for granted.  He began to regard God's blessing of  his health, the security of Jerusalem, and the prosperity of Judah as his own personal accomplishments.  Though God kept his promise to the king, Hezekiah's "borrowed time" and pride would have dire consequences.

When an envoy from Babylon came bearing gifts, Hezekiah welcomed them. His pride led him to "show off" all the treasures and wealth of the kingdom of Judah to his foreign visitors and bragged of "his" successes as a leader.  Oblivious of the fact that he was entertaining spies of a foreign enemy, who would come years later to conquer the nation, destroy Jerusalem,and take all the treasures.

During his "final fifteen years," Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, was born.  He who would succeed his father as king of Judah at age twelve and reign for fifty-five years.  "He (Manasseh) did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites." (2 Chronicles 33:2)  All the good that God had accomplished through Hezekiah would be destroyed by his son's evil.

We have all wished that we had more time.  Hezekiah got his wish, but he took it for granted and wasted it.  God gives us all the time that we need, we just need to acknowledge that it's a gift from God and strive to use every moment of it wisely.

"So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.  (Ephesians 5:15-17 NLV)