God, Josiah, and me

So I was reading 2 Chronicles 34 today.  It was so good!  Josiah is one of my favorite kings in the Old Testament and here are some reasons why...


`2 Chronicles 34:2-3
"He did right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the the left. For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images."


Reading up to this point is so cool, because the king right before Josiah (Amon) was wicked and did evil all the days of his life.  But God, being merciful, lead Josiah to Himself.  Not because of anything that Josiah had done--he was only eight when he became king--but all because of what the Lord worked in his heart.  God put a fire in Josiah so bright that at 20! he as purging nations of evil and leading them to God.  He was truly a man on fire for God.  His life was a witness to all those around him that God is real and worthy to be praised.  I pray that my life exhibits this as well.  By God's grace I will be a light to all around me and shine forth Him for all to see.  We can learn this great lesson from Josiah and his faith and courage.


`2 Chronicles 34:19
"And when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes."


Josiah was so grieved over the law that he tore his clothes.  Remember that day when you first really heard the law... becoming so grieved over the fact that you had broken God's law and where wicked in His eyes because of it.  We still need to be broken over our sin, but praise God for His Son and that Jesus paid the price for my sins and your sins, if you believe, on the cross that day.  Now we actually have the choice not to follow our sinful desires and break God's law.  By His abounding grace we can now say no to those selfish, sinful desires.


`2 Chronicles 34:27
"'Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against the inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,' declares the Lord."


Josiah was a truly humble man.  We can learn from him to put away our excuses for "why" we did certain things.  He didn't make one excuse before the Lord and there were plenty he could have come up with, but instead he humbled himself.  In verse 21 he confesses for the sin of not just his generation, but also his parents generation.  He could have made plenty of excuses since his father was wicked and did evil all the days of his life, but instead God honors him for his humility and his tender heart.  What an awesome picture.  So often we (mainly me, but we) make excuses before God.  We tell Him why we sinned and shift the blame to others (Gen. 3:12-13).  But if you are in Christ then you have to power to now say NO to sin, and the only reason you do sin is because you want whatever it is more than God.  We need to learn from Josiah and come humbly before the Lord, confessing our sins, and owning them.


`2 Chronicles 34:33
"Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers."


Last of all, Josiah lived his life well.  He finished strong (which is rare for the OT kings).  His life impacted those around him in a good way and they followed the Lord because of Josiah's example.  God worked miraculously through Josiah.  I pray that the Lord will use me and all of you as well, for His glory.  Whatever that may look like.  That we would continually tear down evil in ourselves and around us, that we would humble ourselves before the Lord when we sin and keep short accounts of sin before God and others, and that we would be willing for God to use us in WHATEVER way He wants and that at the end of our lives others would think immediately of God when they think of us.


~Praying that God is honored and worshiped more.