Josiah the Good

1Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. 4Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles and the idols. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. 6In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, 7he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

8In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the Lord his God. (2 Chronicles 34)

Thoughts: Josiah, a preacher said, is like a garden in the Sahara, like a sunset before the dark night.  He was a king who sought God amidst a lot of kings who rebelled or tried to ignore God.  Josiah didn't waste his life.  Even as a young man he led the people in a godly way.  Josiah's father and grandfather were terrible influences.  But Josiah listened to and for the Lord.  God blessed his reign as he sought to serve the Lord.  God blesses us when we seek to give the glory to God.  

Prayer: Lord, let me give myself to you.  Bless me as I seek to be a blessing to your name.