Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.
Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2zxyo7
I owned a chess set years before I ever learned how to play. From time to time I’d take out the pieces and move them around, but really had no idea what I was doing. Then one night at a family game night at church a friend took some time to teach me a few of the rules about chess. After that I went back and found a rule book about the game and finally learned how to play the game I’d owned for years.
Sometimes it is very frustrating to have something and not know how to use it. I’ve been told that some people still have VCRs that flash “12:00” on the display because no one ever set the time on them.
Truth is, many times we may bypass or blatantly ignore the instructions and just do what we want to do. Our two sons are electronic wizards. They can operate their games and devices with great precision. From an onlooker’s perspective it sometimes appears as if they are born with that ability. But in reality they have consulted many instructions to learn the rules and parameters of what they are using.
The Old Testament records the life of a very young boy who became a king at the age of 8. Josiah was able to reign for 31 years and he was a good king. That is significant because many kings were not good.
In fact, his grandfather, Manasseh, was only 12 when he became king and he ruled for 55 years. He was an evil king, but he did repent shortly before his death.
Josiah’s father, Amon, was only 22 when he became king. Like his father, he was evil and only reigned 2 years before his own people killed him.
It is not clear how Josiah decided to do good instead of evil. Certainly his father and grandfather were not good role models. Perhaps he just instinctively knew to treat people well and to do good in other things.
In the 8th year of his reign, when he was just 16, Josiah decided to seek the God of his father David. By the time his 12th year of reign began he was ready to clean up the religious mess of Judah and purge Judah and Jerusalem of the idols and pagan worship that had taken over. These are all commendable actions and show that this young ruler was focused knowing the difference in right and wrong.
Then in his 18th year as king, Josiah set about to repair the house of the Lord his God. During that time a priest by the name of Hilkiah found a special book that had long since been lost. That book was the Book of the Law.
When that book was read before Josiah he tore his clothes and said, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.” 2 Chronicles 34:21.
Josiah recognized the significance of that book. It didn’t matter that he was already far superior to the examples of his father and grandfather as kings. It didn’t matter that he was doing the “best he could” in trying to do what was right.
When Josiah realized that there was a written instruction from the Lord, he quickly took action to make sure that everyone heard it and followed what it said.
In 2 Chronicles 34:31-33, we read,
Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not depart from following the LORD God of their fathers.
Josiah had the heart of one who desired to follow God. And even though he knew he was doing good, he did not hesitate to submit himself to the written word of God. What a great testimony to his conviction that the people stayed faithful to God so long as this good king was alive!
On Our Daily Walk today, may we ever be ready to compare our lives and actions with the commands and directions of God’s word. May we, like Josiah, be ready to submit to His word instead of resting on our own goodness.
Our thought for the day: “It is good to mark your Bible, but it is better to let your Bible mark you.”
May God bless you on your daily walk.
© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.
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