Heart, Soul and Strength

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.   2 Kings 23:25 (NLT)

Josiah was only eight years old when he became king in Jerusalem.  For the first eighteen years he was a good man. 

When Josiah was twenty-six he arranged for the Temple to have a renovation and sprucing-up.  One of the priests found a scroll (probably the book of Deuteronomy) hidden in a wall.  It was brought to Josiah and read aloud.

Crisis of faith!

Confronted with God’s Word, Josiah tore his clothes – a typically ancient expression of extreme grief and sorrow.  The implication is that Josiah saw in Scripture what God’s nature was – and saw the great disobedience his generation was living in – and realized that they were in for a national spanking from Jehovah. 

What a Good man did to become a Godly man

Josiah began at the beginning – he began to draw close to God by investigating what God’s Word said.  Then he made a public commitment to following the Lord. (Chapter 23 records his renewal of the covenant before all the people). 

Next, Josiah cleansed the Temple of all the false gods (idols) which had crept in, along with the temple prostitutes and priests who allowed it.  He burned it all!

Next, Josiah began cleansing the land of all idols and pagan places of worship.  This led to cleansing the government workplaces, ridding the land of all shrines to the false gods.  Josiah restored worship and “…also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah.  ^{2Kings 23:24a (NLT)}

Why did he do all this?

He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the LORD’s Temple. ^{2 Kings 23:24b (NLT)}

Obedience to God’s Word – that is the hallmark of a good person who becomes a godly person.

Today

Have you “stumbled” across anything that broke your heart recently?

Is there a little “housecleaning” in your future?

What about worship?

What about some stuff you’ve been meaning to clean out, burn and make a clean break from?

Is it enough to be “good”?  What about Godly?