Humble Response - King Zedekiah

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the LORD.

2 Chronicles 36:11-12

An investigation that followed a deadly collision in 1986 between two ships in the Black Sea ruled out technological malfunctions or inclement weather as causes of the accident. They learned that the collision occurred when the ships’ captains—each knowing that the other was there—refused to yield the right-of-way. That terrible day, hundreds of people died off the coast of Russia because of human stubbornness.

In order to receive the good things God has promised, listen to what he has to say and respond in humble obedience.

Those who prefer to receive nothing from God should pave their way with stubborn defiance.

Judah’s King Zedekiah could testify to all of this. Zedekiah ascended the throne at age twenty-one and from the outset conducted himself like a doomed ruler. He steadfastly refused to listen to the Lord’s word as spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. How much better Judah’s future might have been had Zedekiah humbly listened to God instead of stubbornly closing his ears!

How might you change your future for the better by humbly listening to God? In what areas of life are you stubbornly closing your ears right now? No man who maintains a stubborn attitude has ever done anything great for the Lord or received anything great from him.

Will you willingly receive God’s instructions and position yourself to receive God’s very best?

If you want to receive all that God has for you, your heart must remain pliable toward him. With such a heart, there’s no limit to God’s blessing on you, your wife, your children, and your work.