TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
Read the entire passage: 2 Kings 22.1-2
TODAY’S MESSAGE
For several weeks we’ve looked closely at four kings of Judah—Asa, David, Uzziah and Hezekiah. Our series “Good Kings” ends with Josiah who became king as a child. He reigned 31 years as a renewed and honorable man of God during the darkest time in the history of God’s people.
Josiah wasn’t raised in an environment that nurtured moral decency. His grandfather Manasseh’s 55-year reign was incredibly vile and perverse. He aroused God’s wrath worshipping foreign gods, practicing witchcraft, setting idols in the Temple and sacrificing his own son (2 Kings 21.4-6). Josiah’s father Amon’s reign was similarly marred. He was murdered by his own servants after two years.
Israel had wandered far from faith in God and immersed themselves in heinous disobedience. Then along comes the boy Josiah whose heart is captured by God. He institutes a revolution of righteousness not seen in 60 years. Josiah was not defined by his past.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Josiah proves God gives radical new beginnings. Our history doesn’t need to be an excuse for wrong living. Today in your Chair Time, let God capture your heart. Identify things from your past you want to leave behind and turn them over to him.
