Thursday, September 24, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 2 Chronicles 31-35
Key Verse
2 Chronicles 31:21 — “And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”
Devotional Thought
These chapters give us the great reforming work of Hezekiah, and then the sad shadow of Josiah that follows a generation later. Hezekiah comes to a nation long accustomed to neglected worship and opens the doors of the house of the LORD again. He restores the priests to their courses, sets the offerings in order, appoints treasurers over the storehouses, and the people bring in tithes so plentifully that the heaps must be laid out in piles. The record is almost administrative in its detail — and that is the point. Revival in Scripture is not merely a feeling that sweeps through a crowd; it takes shape in ordinary, deliberate arrangements: doors repaired, portions assigned, storehouses stocked, work begun and carried through.
The verse that sums up Hezekiah’s reign is one of the quietest and strongest in the whole book: “in every work that he began… to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.” Notice the sequence. Not prosperity first, but wholeheartedness; not perfection, but a heart undivided in the work it had begun. Hezekiah was not a flawless man — the later chapters of his life carry their own warnings — but in the great work of restoring worship, he did not hold back a portion of himself.
Then the account turns to Josiah, who came to the throne as a boy, and who also cleansed the land and repaired the temple. In his days the book of the law was found, read aloud, and the king rent his clothes. Here is the pattern that ties the two reigns together: the house of God is restored, the word of God is recovered, and a wholehearted king sets his face to obey it. When the light of Scripture is brought back into the center, the house is cleansed and the people are called home.
There is a plain word in this for the ordinary September day. Most of us are not kings, and our reforming work is not the temple but a household, a job, a small circle of souls entrusted to our care. Yet the same order holds. Wholeheartedness precedes prosperity. The work of seeking God is done with all the heart, or it is not really done at all. And when the word of God is recovered and read afresh, it always does the same thing — it uncovers what needs to be cleansed, and it calls us to begin again in earnest, however far we may have drifted.
Reflection
- Hezekiah’s reform began with opening doors that had been shut and clearing out what did not belong. Is there a “door” in your own life — a habit of prayer, worship, or Scripture — that has quietly gone unopened, and what would it take to open it this week?
- Hezekiah did the work “with all his heart.” Where are you holding back a portion of yourself, serving God and others half-heartedly, and what would wholeheartedness look like in that place today?
Prayer
O Lord God, who didst raise up Hezekiah to repair Thy house and set Thy worship in order, and didst let the voice of Thy law be heard again in the days of Josiah, stir up in us, we beseech Thee, hearts that are not divided, that whatsoever work we begin for Thee we may do with all our hearts and seek Thee faithfully therein. Uncover in us whatsoever hath been neglected or defiled, cleanse Thy dwelling place among us, and let Thy word be read and obeyed in our homes and in our hearts, that we may prosper in the way of Thy commandments. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.