Scripture

Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

~2 Kings 23:25, NLT

Quote

The worship of idols is not innocent, it is demonic and demoralizing. Ultimately the worshiper will perish with the perishable idol.

~Van Gemeren

When it comes to fame, fortune and success; David is the greatest of the kings. It is not just the contribution he made to the people of his own era; David’s Psalms are blessing millions today. David was also a prophet and one of the three brightest stars in the Hebrew heavens {Abraham, Moses and David}. So how to we explain this verse in 2 Kings that says there was no king like Josiah. Josiah was only eight years old when he became king and it was ten years later that the priest discovered the law of Moses that had been misplaced in the temple. Up until this time, Josiah had never heard the word of God. When the word was read to him, he wept, then ripped his clothing and put on sackcloth. He was broken hearted that Israel had been unfaithful in their covenant relationship to God.

Josiah was as straight as an arrow and he turned neither to the left or the right but proceeded straight ahead in a crusade to rid Israel of all idols. This is exactly what the first generation Israelites were commanded to do but didn’t follow through. Josiah was a bulldog, he didn’t give up. He personally went from town to town destroying idols and places of pagan worship. He even went north into Israel where he was not offically the king. He had one passion: obey the commands of the LORD. He didn’t chase women. He didn’t have innocent people executed. He did not have treacherous people in his cabinet. He was a puritan. Morally speaking, there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah and Israel.

Unfortunately Josiah died at age 39 and yet in those brief years he had learned what most of us have not: narrow your interest, discover your passion and pursue it with all your heart. If we are going to be faithful to the main thing; we have to learn to say no to the things that are not.

Extra

I feel better but can’t shake the cough. Instead of getting better, the cough seems to be going deeper. I am going to make every effort to get ti Josie and Ty’s game tonight and church tomorrow night. God bless you, thanks for reading the blog and for your prayers.