Saturday
During the reign of King Josiah, something very important was found. Do you know what it might be?
Actually I think the better question to ask is why was it ever lost in the first place? Of course the answer is the “Book of the Law”. It could have been just the book of Deuteronomy or it might have been the Pentateuch (which was attributed to Moses and was the first five “penta” books of the bible). Either way it was some very significant writings that seemed to have been lost over many years. Something tucked away in some cave or jar and left unattended. I wonder how many of us have put our bible into some closet or drawer waiting for us to “discover” it. Actually, most people have a bible in their house, they just never open it up, or maybe if they know the pastor is coming for a visit, they might dust it off and set it out. But the truth is, it’s not worth having if you don’t read it.
I heard the bible compared to a survivor’s manual. If you are sitting in a comfortable chair you might leaf through the pages for fun. But if you are lost in the wilderness, you would pour over that survivor’s manual looking for ways to save yourself. Well, guess what, the bible IS a survivor’s manual and we are in the wilderness. We should be pouring over the pages and taking in all we can, not just picking it up to dust it off occasionally.
I see this “discovering” the book of the Law as a time of revival for the people. Josiah makes them put into practice all the commands that are in there. It is important for us to understand that a significant part of those commands are about preparing yourself for worship. Cleaning out your temple (heart) and surrendering to the will of God, all the things that keep you separated from Him. Maybe it is time for us to “discover” our bibles again and put into practice what it says.
Yay, King Josiah for humbling yourself before God and being a king that led his people well. I pray for a “King Josiah” to come to our nation.
Blessings
Pastor Kathy