One thing that I loved to do when I was young was rearrange my bedroom. I would get bored with it always being the same and every so often on a Saturday you would find me moving furniture, lamps, pictures, stuffed animals, etc across the room until it looked just the way I liked it.
One of my fondest memories of room arranging was the day I got a new desk. I already had a desk and it was a nice desk to. My dad had given me my desk as a gift for me when he saw my need for one. My desk suited my needs just fine. It had plenty of drawers and space to fit all my things.
My sister had a desk in her room as well. I always admired her desk and in my heart I had always wished I could have it. Her desk was different from mine. It was a desk made for drawing. ¾ of the desk surface could be tilted on an angle so that rather then bend over to draw or write (two things I have always loved to do) you could sit up and be creative without getting a backache. I thought hers was the coolest thing and mine I saw as simple and ordinary.
One day when I was hanging out in my sister's room down the hall she told me that I could have her desk. My heart was filled with excitement. I jumped right up and made plans to move it into my room. Let me make one thing clear, I didn't want to get ride of my old desk. I simply wanted another one that would allow me to do things that I thought my other desk couldn't. I got to my room and started moving furniture. I moved my old desk to make a place for my new one. It was a great day and by the end of it I stood back and looked with admiration and pride at my room filled with the treasure I had longed for, my new desk.
As time went on I used my old desk less and less. It was used to hold things that I didn't really need or want and it started to collect a bit of dust.
Eventually and with great sadness my wonderful new desk started to break. The hinge that held the top at an angle eventually broke and I was left with a desk that had no "special" quality to it. It because an eye sore and was very much in the way. One day my father had to come into my room and remove the broken down desk. But, my old desk remained, in tact and just as good and strong as ever. I moved things around until my old and trustworthy desk was back in its place of honor in the center of my room.
This is the story that came to my mind when I read about Ahaz rearranging the furniture in God's house. What Ahaz did physically in the temple was a direct reflection of what was going on spiritually in his heart. He was no longer satisfied with the Lord of his life and decided to move him aside to make the King of Assyria the new master of his heart (2 Kings 16:7-8 & 17-18). In Ahaz's eye's God was "restricting" him, not allowing him to have victories and success. Ahaz was not satisfied with what the Lord was doing or what the Lord had given. He wanted something new, something he saw as better, something others had that he wanted. His heart was full of pride and selfishness.
This issue of pride is the exact reason why God is giving all these oracles against the nations that we have been reading about:
"The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth." Isaiah 23:9
When there is pride, when there is anything that takes the rightful place of the Lord God Almighty he will eventually come and take back that which belongs to him. He will take back his place of honor in our jobs, homes, relationships, lives and hearts. Sometimes it is an easy task and other times it requires destruction of the obstacles and removal of that which has taken his rightful place.
My dad had to come in and remove from my room the desk I had so desperately wanted even though I already had the one he had given me. But removing it was needed. That old desk was broken and not sturdy. It was taking up room. Once he got rid of it I was able to see clearly how special and reliable my old desk truly was. I could still draw and write just as well, if not better. I was able to see that I didn't need for anything else. All that I needed I already had.
In life we should be careful to not let our eyes lead our hearts toward things of destruction (just like Ahaz) but to see clearly the precious gift we have in Jesus Christ and let him reign in the center of hearts and lives.
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23
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