When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. – 2 Chronicles 29:29

Today's Scripture Reading (March 7, 2020): 2 Chronicles 29

I am not a royalist, but from my understanding, it must be a bit of a challenge to be at any kind of a social gathering with Queen Elizabeth. According to what I know, the people who gather are expected to mirror the Queen, and soon they will reflect the King. If we are attending a dinner with her and she is eating, then the rest of us would eat. But as soon as the Queen is finished eating, so are you. There is no lingering over a meal after the sovereign has taken her last bite. I am not sure that Queen Elizabeth has ever uttered the words, "Oh, go ahead and eat. Don't mind me; I am just not really hungry at the moment." When the Queen is finished, so are you.

It is the same situation when Queen Elizabeth goes to church. When she stands, you stand. Don't try to argue that your hip is bothering you, or that you have a weak leg; if the Queen is standing, you are on your feet. (I still don't understand how people can sit through a church service that honors the King of the earth. There are times during a worship experience when we should be on our feet or on our knees, despite the pain we might be experiencing.) And when the Queen sits, you sit. There are no lone worshippers in the Queen's church praising God with lifted hands and gently swaying to the music while everyone else remains seated. You can only do what the Queen does. If you don't like that, then find someplace else to be.

But the problem is that the focus, no matter what the situation might be, is on the Queen. I am sure that she is fully aware of that, and makes sure that her movements are limited. But everyone in the room must be mindful of what it is that the Queen is doing. In her church, there would be little room for God to speak because the Queen is the focus.

Hezekiah has cleansed the Temple that had been neglected for quite a while. He has commanded that what was broken must be fixed, and what was defiled must be cleansed. Hezekiah wanted to right the wrongs of the previous generations. And when all of that had been completed, he knelt down and worshipped. And because all eyes were on the King, the nation knelt and worshipped too. Hezekiah was setting the standard that all of Judah was bound to follow. And when he fixed his eyes on his God, he directed the eyes of everyone around him onto God as well.

It is actually the main task of a leader; to fix the eyes of those who follow onto something that can really make a difference in our lives. And that something is never us; it is never me. My eyes are fixed on the one that Hezekiah worshiped two and a half millennia ago. Because I agree with Hezekiah, after all, the King could have been worshipped as God, but he knew that he would always fall short. So he looked up to the God of his ancestors and invited everyone who saw him to do the same.

 Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 30