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Friday, July 19, 1996

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Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
Isaiah 38
Matthew 12:1-8

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house work

"Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order." —Isaiah 38:1

When King Hezekiah was terminally ill, Isaiah prophesied to him: "Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover" (Is 38:1). Hezekiah ignored the first part of this message and prayed for the Lord to spare his life (Is 38:2). The Lord gave him fifteen more years to live (Is 38:5), but Hezekiah still didn't put his house in order.

Hezekiah used his fifteen extra years to do two terrible things. He carelessly and selfishly let messengers from Babylon obtain important information that eventually resulted in the conquest of the chosen people by the Babylonians (Is 39:2, 5-8). Even worse than this, Hezekiah fathered a son, Manasseh, three years into his extra fifteen years. Manasseh reversed the good work of his father (2 Kgs 21:3). "He immolated his son by fire. He practiced soothsaying and divination, and reintroduced the consulting of ghosts and spirits. He did much evil in the Lord's sight" (2 Kgs 21:6). "Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord, shedding so much innocent blood as to fill the length and breadth of Jerusalem" (2 Kgs 21:16). Although Manasseh eventually converted to the Lord (2 Chr 33:13), his reign was a catastrophe. This wasn't all Hezekiah's fault, but surely doesn't indicate that Hezekiah ever put his house in order.

Put your house in order, or you may set the stage for the destruction of yourself, your family, and your nation.

Prayer:  Father, by Your grace, may I put in order my house, relationships, work, finances, entertainment, sexuality, and conversation.

Promise:  "The Son of Man is indeed Lord of the sabbath." —Mt 12:8

Praise:  Samantha recently graduated from home-school and now attends a Catholic college. She is so different from the other students that the nuns have asked her for advice on student matters after daily Mass.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 29, 1995


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 4, 1995