Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

2 Kings 23:25 (NIV)

Before I became a Christian I don’t recall ever hearing about King Josiah. I had an awareness of King David, I suspect, because of the story of David and Goliath, and when I think of the Bible “greats” I don’t think much about King Josiah. If anything, I’d say that this remarkable man, who stood out as one of the few faithful kings, is overshadowed by the likes of David. Ironically, I believe that the evil kings that proceeded Josiah have also contributed to my lack of awareness of this great king of the Bible. King David and Josiah were both men who loved God and they share one key trait that we today need to cultivate in our relationship with the Lord.

Frankly, when I think about King David, what often stands out to me are the mistakes that he made and his repentant heart. Unlike Josiah, who was one of the last kings of Judah, David was the perennial king that all other kings afterward were measured against, because it was to David that God made the promise of the Davidic covenant. That the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come from David’s line establishing a kingdom that would last forever. Although David made mistake after mistake he always whole heartily repented. David’s actions changed to match his heart that professed his love to God.

When I look at King Josiah, I see a parallel to the life of the Christian. Whatever our background was before we were Christian, we were of this world until we found Christ. This is where I see the parallel to Josiah. Josiah became King of Judah when he was eight years old and when he was sixteen, he started to follow the Lord. In the ten years following Josiah’s decision to follow the Lord, he swept through the lands of Judah and Israel eliminating everything that was not of God. When the Book of the Law was found, Josiah didn’t relent in his pursuit of God but did everything that he was supposed to do according to the Law of Moses.

Perhaps it’s just me but I like things to happen now. I want all of the blessings of God in my life now. Whatever it is that’s good and of God, I want it now. As a new creation, I don’t want to deal with the things of the past, I want to move forward into the bright and amazing future that God has for me, now. However, when I look to Josiah, I see that there’s a process involved and a large part of that process is me.

There are things in our lives that cause us to sin and we need to get rid of them. King Josiah knew this so he went throughout the land and destroyed all of those things. The laundry list of what Josiah did you can read of here (2 Kings 23:4-20). Josiah’s actions are reflective of a repentant heart. The kings before him had led the people into idolatry so Josiah destroyed all of the things that were around that could lead the people to sin once again. However, everything that Josiah did, from reestablishing the covenant with God to finally finishing off all of those priests of the high places, didn’t happen overnight.

Our journeys with God are just that, they are a journey. When we are first saved, I believe that we make the effort to get rid of the things that are not of God in our lives. However, I believe that our awareness of how to walk with God is dependent on our relationship with Him. I doubt that many of us were presented with the entirety of what it means to live a holy life pleasing to God when we were first saved because of who God is. He doesn’t throw such burdens on His children. It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance and I believe that His will is made evident to us through our relationship with Him.

Therefore, I believe that we need to be continual in our pursuit of God. We need to read our Bibles regularly and be in fellowship with other Believers. As part of our walk with the Lord, we need to examine our lives and the things that we have allowed to creep into them and get rid of those things that are not of God. Jesus was so adamant about the things that might cause one to sin that He spoke of cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye as actions to avoid sinning and go to hell (Matthew 5:29-30). These extreme examples show us the importance of not holding onto things in our lives that might cause us to sin.

One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). I think a necessary element to self-control is removing those things that might cause us to lose control. I don’t believe that Jesus was telling us to cut off our hands or gouge out our eyes. I think He was telling us that we need to be discerning about the things in our lives that might cause us to sin. While I don’t know what those things look like for you, I do have an idea of what they look like to me, so I’m off to tidy up.

Do you know God? God knows you and loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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