Ernest Smith

Have you ever made a mistake while trying to lead other people?  Odds are that if you have been leading anyone for any length of time, then you have made mistakes that not only made you look back, but could have caused damage to the group.  Leaders make mistakes all the time.  We see it in the media, we see it in our churches and we see it in our personal lives.

Over the last week, we have been looking at the life of King Hezekiah, one of the best leaders Israel was blessed to be led by.  He was a man of vision, courage and was a servant-leader.  He was a great man of God who rallied the peoples’ hearts back to the Lord.  Even though Hezekiah did many great things for the Lord, he, like all of us, made some leadership blunders.

One of the greatest blunders that he made came at a time when he was recovering from a sickness.  He had just been miraculously healed by the Lord and then comes a team from Babylon.  This group of men was representing the King of Babylon and they were coming to celebrate Hezekiah’s
healing.  They brought letters from the King and presents to show their concern for the leader of Israel.  Then came Hezekiah’s mistake.

In a moment of weakness, a moment of pure ignorance, King Hezekiah decides to show these foreigners all the treasures of the Kingdom.  He paraded them through his own home, where they saw paintings, furniture and lots of women.  He paraded them through the Temple, where they saw gold and valuables that were dedicated to the Lord.  They saw it all and wanted it all.  A short time later, an army from Babylon came and stole everything, leaving the people with nothing.

It was a blunder…a mistake.  He weak, ignorant and was not protective of what the Lord gave him.  He lost it all from one small blunder.

What is that one small blunder that could cost you everything?  Is it a small sin that you think no one will know about?  Is it those thoughts you have that “will never be acted upon?”  Is it a relationship that seems harmless now?

Take a lesson from King Hezekiah.  He was a great man, a great king, a great follower of God and yet one small blunder destroyed all that he had.