Today’s passage says this: “30 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. 2 For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at the regular time,[a] because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem.”
God is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. All Christians are preparing to celebrate the Passover. Yesterday I heard a journalist say that the Passover celebration means chocolate to many, but it means the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ to the others. My brother, my sister, what does the Passover mean to you?
Today’s passage reminds us that this celebration should be prepared. We often see how the world is buzzing around 25 December each year. But how can we, as Christians, prepare for the Passover, which is the greatest celebration of our Christianity? Here, we are recalled the fact that, because the Passover commemorated the time when God spared the lives of Israel’s firstborn sons in Egypt, so the plague sent by God killed all firstborn sons except in those homes where the blood of a slain lamb had been painted on the doorsteps (Exodus 12:23). Many centuries and generations after that, the Passover was still celebrated because it was a yearly reminder of how God delivered His people.
My friend, God still delivers His people today and He sent Jesus to be our Passover lamb once and for all. Therefore, this celebration requires careful spiritual preparation both in the Temple and for the festival because of the profound change that it is expected to bring in our hearts and our lives. Here Hezekiah postponed the celebration because the priests were not spiritually ready and enough people had not been gathered. What an honor for our God! Today we take the things of the Lord too lightly, therefore, we no longer experience the individual or corporate revivals in our churches.
Who would hear the Word today and stand up for the interest of the Lord and prepare for the Passover as it should be, knowing that Jesus died for us, so we cannot commemorate His death and resurrection as a routine? My friend, much more than chocolate, the Passover is really the time that can allow you to experience a real change in your heart and in your life through your deliverance, but for that to happen you must prepare yourself. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.