The Pride of Hezekiah....and Me

In Isaiah 39 (which by the way follows 36-38 where God miraculously saves Hezekiah and Judah from the destruction of the Assyrians and then also adds 15 years to Hezekiah's life) the king Hezekiah receives some guest from Babylon and proceeds to "show off" all the possessions of his kingdom. When confronted by Isaiah Hezekiah openly admits that he showed them everything. Isaiah then prophesies the coming of the Babylonians, even going as far to mention that Hezekiah's sons (probably grandchildren) would serve as eunichs in the kingdom of Babylon. And here is how Hezekiah responds:

Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

Do you hear the self-centered pride? Hezekiah doesn't really care what happens after he's gone, just as long as there is peace and security in his lifetime.

Well I can't be too hard on Hezekiah because I too struggle with self-centered pride. I too get wrapped up in my own world. I too get set in my own agenda, ignoring God's and others - which if I'm not mistaken is the complete opposite of what I am supposed to be doing - the command is to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Hezekiah's story of pride works like a mirror revealing my own self-centered attitudes and actions. So my prayer today is that God would help me to get over myself and love Him and others more than I love me.