Don’t Cut the Rope

2 Kings 16:18

He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the LORD, in deference to the king of Assyria.

We just had a full week. Literally. From Thursday to Monday, three high school friends flew here and stayed with us for their much-needed vacation. Then Monday to Thursday, another set came - twelve people(!) - to supposedly-attend CBAP’s Biennial Conference.  No, I did not attempt to serve them all day. They love me enough to expect that, haha :> Really, I had nothing in my hands except prepare their beds and buy the morning bread. That shouldn’t be tiring. But you don’t expect a host to let you eat your breakfast alone or sleep ahead and not care.  I had to be watchful and waiting for anything and everything, at all times. Plus the required smiles of course :> I was so tired I slept all weekend to recharge. But does this mean I’m quitting on this hospitality thing-y? Nah! Believe it or else, I’m missing them all!  You don’t bite an apple and say it’s a hard chew. You taste an apple to enjoy its sweetness :>

Ahaz was Judah’s royal blacksheep. Labeled as the most unfaithful to the Lord, he knew he was one and lived it. He envied the prodigal son for he had a Father waiting for his return. He knew his rebellion angered God and so he never came back. He was all alone when the Edomites and the Philistines attacked him and when Israel called Syria to fight against him. He felt he had no choice but to be a vassal of another enemy, Assyria. Further down, he bowed down to a lot other gods to save him. He offered them wealth, even threw his sons in the fire. He was all-out in pleasing them. He was passionately desperate in fact. He thought, ‘Since their gods helped them win, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me too!’ And so he carved their idols, copied their altars, and later on, like a last straw - -  he removed the pathway connecting the palace to the temple.  He was hard-pressed on every side, persecuted, and struck down. He said: ‘If God is quitting on me, then I’m quitting on Him!’

But did God quit on him? Will He ever to us? Hanging there on the cross, Jesus knew countless people will defy and deny Him. But didn’t He endure ‘til His last breath for mankind’s salvation? Didn't He die for both naughty and nice? God never left Ahaz. Here’s a trivia: Do you know to whom did the prophecy of the virgin birth and Jesus being Immanuel first spoken to? It was to Ahaz! That time when was shaken from Aram and Ephraim, God sent the prophet Isaiah with these words: ‘Be careful, keep calm, don’t be afraid’. God’s promise of help to Ahaz was Jesus Himself!  God never left him.  God’s grace even honored him to be part of Jesus’ genealogy. But sadly, he still quitted on God. Waiting was not his option. Words was not enough for him. But to you, hang on in there. Don’t cut the rope linking you and heaven. He has His hands on you. Don’t let go.