Clinging to the Lord

I have been reading through 1 and 2 Kings and it has been very encouraging and often convicting. It is also really neat for me when the Lord shows me a real life example of what He is talking about in His word...

I was reading about Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18 and it says about him "He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses (18:5-6)."

Sometimes I can wonder what it really looks like to "hold fast to the Lord" or "cling to Him" as some translations read. This week- God showed me through Asher what this kind of looks like. About a month ago, Sonny and I left Asher with my parents for a week to take our students to camp. While he did great with them, I do think that it made him a little more nervous about us leaving again- it was a little difficult to get everything back to the way things were before we left.

Last Thursday Sonny went to visit his dad in New Jersey and I went with Asher to stay with my parents for a few days in Richmond. During this visit I saw a very, very clinging baby. Some might say he is going through "separation anxiety" but I also think the Lord wanted to show me about Hezekiah. Asher never wanted to leave my side. He would be content playing in a room- as long as I was there where he could see me. Is this how we are supposed to be with the Lord? Shouldn't we always be in His presence, doing even mundane tasks while recognizing that He is with us? I think we should. I think the Lord was trying to show me that this is what He wants from me and this is what Hezekiah had. Hezekiah did everything while always making sure that the Lord was with Him. He "held fast" to the Lord, as a baby going through "separation anxiety" clings to their parent.

I love how the Lord gives us those pictures of what our faith should look like. I pray that I would learn from little Asher what it means to "hold fast" to Jesus and do everything in His presence.