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If You’re Really Ready to Make the Future Better Than the Past, Start Here

Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind and with all of our strength. These four categories cover all of who we are. Some of us are holding back one or two or three or all four of these from God. Over our entire life, we will continue to fail to become all that God has created us to be until we completely give Him all of who we are.

The same is true of our ministries. Are we doing things because they have always been done or because God wants us to do them? Just as we need to surrender all of our lives, we need to surrender all of our ministries to Him.

So how do we do that?

There’s a fascinating figure in the Scriptures named Hezekiah. His story is shared three different times (2 Chronicles, 2 Kings and Isaiah); that in itself is significant. 

After Israel had fallen, Judah remained independent and did not fall to the Assyrians. It was during this time when Hezekiah became king at the age of 25. He ruled for 29 years. 

Hezekiah’s father was wicked. He followed the ways of the wicked people around them—worshiping their gods, which included a brutal practice of sacrificing their children.

Yet, Hezekiah was different. He began removing all of the items used to worship the false gods. Child sacrifice was abolished. 2 Chronicles 29:3-10 says the following:

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5 and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him … . 10 Now, I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him … .” —2 Chronicles 29:3-10

As soon as he had the opportunity (in the first month of his first year), he changed the trajectory of his life and his nation from where his dad had been going. The story continues with Hezekiah reinstating worship at the Temple and even celebrating the Passover holiday. Because of his covenant with God—choosing to commit himself and his decisions to God—Hezekiah began applying the Word of God to his life and to the lives of his people. 

From his story, we discover seven ways to make the future better than the past.

1. Forget resolutions.

Make a covenant (commit yourself and your decisions to God).

Throughout the story of Hezekiah, he called the people of Judah to return to the Lord. 

Over and over, he used the phrase: “return.” 

“If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” —2 Chronicles 30:9

At the same time, he invited those who had not followed God to do so for the first time.

18 Although most of the many people who came from [other nations] had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. —2 Chronicles 30:18-20

At Gateway, we have communicated to Austin that “no perfect people are allowed,” and that you can “come as you are, and you don’t have to stay that way.” Here, we see an example from 2,700 years ago of a “come as you are” community. Hezekiah understood the character of God. God wants all to know Him—no matter where they may be spiritually, people from every tribe and nation.

Following his leadership, the people began to …