2 Kings 20:19
“Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?”
Hezekiah’s resumé is amazing. When he took the throne of Judah, the preaching of Isaiah had indeed made an impact on this young king. The Scriptures say about Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:3, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.” The Scriptures go on and describe Hezekiah as a man who“trusted” and “clave” to the LORD, and a man who “departed not from following” the commandments of the LORD. This all resulted in the LORD being with him. Anybody would want this on their resumé.
For most of Hezekiah’s life he did well, but at the end of his life something happened. Pride set into his heart, and when the Babylonian envoy came to bring him presents after he recovered from a deadly sickness, he showed them all of his house. Many people would look at this act and see nothing wrong with it, but God knew the heart of Hezekiah and how it was lifted up in his own ways. At the end of his life, he didn't care what people thought about him because he felt he had nothing to prove. Sadly, instead of his resumé having a consistency from beginning to end, the end of it changed dramatically to a selfish man who cared less about his own children being taken away to Babylon as slaves because of his self-centered actions.
A valuable lesson can be learned by all from Hezekiah’s life. Just because you have filled your resumé with great works for most of your life doesn't mean you are done writing it. What you do in your older years is still important to God. You are always writing your life’s resumé until you go to Heaven. You should be very careful that the end years of your life match the beginning years. You should never live in such a manner that your children will despise you because of how you live your senior years.
Moreover, it is important that you continue to write good with your life on your resumé because you are teaching the younger generation how to grow old. Age is no excuse to stop obeying the commandments of the LORD. Old age doesn't give you a right to let up on soul winning, standards, faithfulness to church and living according to the Scriptures. Just because you have age doesn't mean you can do what you want. You never earn the right to compromise or disobey God’s Word. If it was right to do when you were young, it is still right to do now that you are older. God’s Word doesn't change just because you feel secure with your finances, and you feel that your life’s resumé has been written.
Friend, let me remind you that you are often remembered for your last works. It may seem unfair that most would forget what you have done in your younger years, but you are always proving to a younger generation that serving the LORD is the right thing to do. Let me encourage those who are approaching or are living in their senior years to continue living what you did when you were younger. Show a younger generation that serving the LORD is not for a period of life, but it is for life. Hezekiah brought reproach to the LORD’s name because of his decision to let up in his senior years. Whatever you do, don't change your resumé. Keep writing on it the same works and stand for Christ that you had when you were younger.