“Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem...” (2 Kings 22:1)

I’m not sure what would be more unnerving...having a king who is only 8-years old, or having a full-grown king ...who acts like an 8-year old. Whatever your thoughts are on this, clearly Josiah succeeded a couple of ‘bad eggs’ as he inherited a kingdom that was not in a good place of standing...with God, that is.

How many of you know personally, that ‘bad cycles’...can be broken? You may have come from some ‘bad blood’, or been raised in less than favorable circumstances; and yet...somehow, instead of blaming those conditions (or people) , using them as an excuse to fail in life, you overcame them and were able to turn the course and direction of your own life around in a way that no one would have seen coming. Yeah...welcome to the kingdom of God - Jesus came to break us free from those cycles (Luke 4:18; John 8:32-36; Acts 26:18)

No doubt, God put a person who would be a positive influence in Josiah’s life, and most likely it was his mother, whose name was Jedidah, which means ‘beloved’. Verse 2 in this chapter tells us: “And he (Josiah) did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”

Our story then fast-forwards 18 years and we learn Josiah has made funds available to have much needed work done on the ‘house of the Lord’ so the ‘damage’ could be repaired (3-6). Apparently, the young king had sent a scribe with some instructions to Hilkiah, the high priest, concerning these funds that were to be used to pay the craftsmen. And Hilkiah sends some news back with Shaphan, the scribe, to inform Josiah of a recent discovery (8-9).

“I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” (8)

To ‘find’ something would suggest that this ‘something...had been previously... lost’.

Imagine with me here, for a moment...that you’ve gone to visit some old friends whom you have not seen for a very long time; perhaps some friends who once attended church with you but they fell out from attending long ago for unknown reasons. And during the course of your visit, something comes up in the conversation that pertains to a Bible verse or story of some sort, and your friend is inspired to get up and retrieve their Bible, but apparently can’t seem to put their hands on it.

You hear them ask their spouse: “Honey...do you know where my Bible is?” And the spouse replies: “When was the last time you even had it open to read?”

Then comes that awkward silence, followed by a sheepish admission of: “My goodness, for the life of me...I have no idea...but it has to have been many months ago, if not longer!”

[long, dramatic pause here]

A simple, ‘spiritual’ question for all of us to consider now: We are told that we are ‘cleansed’ by the ‘washing of the water of the word’ in Eph. 5:26 and John 15:3. Peter admonished us to ‘desire the sincere milk of the word of God that we may grow thereby’ (1 Pet. 2:2). And Paul informs us how it is the ‘word of God that works effectively IN... those who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13)

How might you assess the ‘spiritual’ condition of anyone who claims to be a ‘believer’ if you compared the amount of time they have spent feeding upon and consuming what God’s word has to say...with the amount of time they have spent taking in anything and everything this world has to offer via other sources that has nothing to do with God’s word...or kingdom?

I’m not going to create some lengthy laundry list here, but for example...maybe you spend 15-30 minutes every other day reading/browsing through some Bible chapters, but then spend 3+ hours a day feeding on ‘conservative’ talk shows and podcasts or newscasts...or movies and sporting events or TikTok videos...etc. [ Another long dramatic pause here]

And not to add insult to injury here, but even if...you are taking in and hearing God’s word, what is your condition going to be like if you are not putting in to practice...what you have heard or read, according to James 1:22-24 and Matt. 7:26-27?

* * *

So the ‘Book of the Law’ had been found...in the ‘house of the Lord’ of all places; go figure! And Shaphan the scribe brings it back to King Josiah...and reads it to the king (10)

“Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ...that he tore his clothes.” (11). Would you please now go read vs. 12-13...and underline or mark vs. 13 if you are comfortable doing so in your Bible.

That moment...when whatever you have spent much time in frustration, trying to assemble ... a simple  jigsaw puzzle, a piece of furniture or some appliance...but a host of pieces were missing. And for the life of you, you could not understand why you had come to a standstill...until you found those missing pieces ... that you did not even know existed.

Why did God make it known that ‘His people...were destroyed’? (Hosea 4:6)

Join me tomorrow?