READING: 2 Kings 23:1-20, 2 Chronicles 34:29-33, 2 Kings 23:21-28, 2 Chronicles 35:1-19, Nahum 1:1-3:19
I have known some great men in my life. Great pastors. Great preachers. Great agency heads. Great professors. Great laymen. Great brothers in Christ. I could name them and describe the things that so often have caught my attention: faithfulness, integrity, love, prayerfulness, perseverance, godliness, teachability, skill. God in His grace has allowed my path to cross theirs so they might challenge me to review and change my life as needed.
Knowing how great these men are, I cannot imagine what it might have been like to meet King Josiah. The Word of God describes him in ways we do not often read of others:
- “Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book.” (2 Kgs 23:3)
- “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.” (2 Kgs 23:25)
- “So Josiah removed everything that was detestable from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God.” (2 Chron 34:33)
- “None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present in Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (2 Chron 35:18)
No king turned to the Lord like Josiah did. He loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength (Deut 6:5). May you and I do the same.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you love the Lord this way?
DAILY PRAYER: “Father, help me to love you with all my being today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Habakkuk 1:1-3:19, Zephaniah 1:1-2:7