It is heartbreaking when the sons (or daughters) do not follow the faithful ways of their fathers. And it is jarring to read how many sons do not follow the ways of their fathers in the Old Testament. And there is a lesson here….

About the king Hezekiah, it is said, “He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.”  (2 Kings 18:5) 

That is a very high compliment. You would think that is common among the kings of Israel who represented God to the world. But that was not so unfortunately. Most kings fall far short of that compliment. However, you get a head-scretcher when it comes to his son. I would’ve guessed that since the father was a man of God, his son would be also. He would’ve grown up watching his father making wise decisions and leading people to God and demonstrating answered prayers. But the son does not follow his father’s steps.

Here’s what’s said about the son: “And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel…. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger.” (2 Kg 21:2)

As a father, I’m interested in knowing how this happened, to make sure it doesn’t happen to my children. But I realize through the word and experience that it is out of our control. All we can do is follow hard after God ourselves, educate and discipline our children to the best of our abilities, and hope and pray that they will follow God.

In other words, it is up to God and not up to us. We need to give our children to the Lord, along with our career, our house, our spouse, our time, our money, etc.

Trust God. He will do what is right.

PH