Idol Smashing!

This morning I read in 2 Kings chapter 23--all about Josiah King of Judah, son of Amon, grandson of Manasseh--a HORRIBLE king--and great-grandson of Hezekiah. Josiah is the one who became king at 8 years old, found the Book of the Covenant, and did some pretty awesome idol bashing! He even went a step farther than Hezekiah and went into Israel (who were in captivity at this point), and took out their old idols/high places/priests/etc!

Josiah is described similarly to Hezekiah-- "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength..." (2 Kings 23:25a) That's pretty serious!

However, even after all Josiah did, God's anger (incited by Manasseh) did not cool down this time. But God did promise that Josiah would not see the destruction of Judah in his lifetime. In the end, Josiah was killed in a battle with Pharaoh Neco.

Josiah is an amazing role model to any Christian, even though he's an Old Testament hero. I mean, can you imagine this guy? The last two kings were seriously wicked guys! Nearly sixty years have passed since the reign of good king Hezekiah, and the people are once again settled in their evil ways, even sacrificing their children and building other altars in the Temple!! And then Josiah comes along, finds the Book of the Covenant, and makes all these drastic changes. He must have faced so much opposition! Yet he didn't compromise, and tore down EVERYTHING.

The question we can be asking ourselves is, do we really want to serve the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? And if so, what idols do we need to tear down in our own hearts?

~~~

Change the world!!

In Christ,
Ellie

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