I've had young people on my heart this past week, and it has prompted
me to study a few of the youth noted in the Word of God. Many of them
were very willing and quite capable of doing great things for God, even
at a young and tender age. They were hopeful of making changes for right
during times when evil reigned. How hopeful do you think today's young
people are about their ability to change the world for good? What significant
jobs do you think could be done by a young person that would make a difference
for God? What would you think if I told you that an eight year old boy
could bring an end to idol worship in the lives of many people of all
ages, be responsible for organizing the repairs necessary to your church
building, and cause more of the Bible to be read during services? Would
you think that far fetched? Well, it isn't! Such was Josiah's powerful
testimony at the age of eight when he began his reign as king in Jerusalem....
Turn to 2 Chronicles 34, and bring your young person with you today to
hear this story. It's one they will want to read over and over again!
Vs. 1-2, "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and
declined neither to the right hand nor to the left."
Wouldn't all we mothers love to have children that behaved like this??
This boy possessed great strength of character! He was wholeheartedly
devoted to honoring God. Because Josiah had rule over his own spirit first,
his outward governing abilities were highly influential. Josiah did right
in God's eyes, and stayed on the straight and narrow path, following closely
in his father's footsteps... Ladies, this is precisely where the most
important godly influence over our children's lives begins today - in
the home! Where do you think Josiah's reverence and concern for what pleased
God at such an early age came from? A day care worker?? Where do you think
he learned to behave properly? A Sunday school teacher?? Was it because
he took Ritalin?? No, he learned these things at HOME from his parents!
He received a big dose of God, amen? May we as parents take to heart the
kind of spiritual leadership and oversight we are providing our children
with, for they will follow in our footsteps!
Are you doing that which is right in the Lord's eyes today, dear lady?
It will affect all your children's tomorrows! Don't believe me? Read on...
Vs. 3a, "For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young,
he began to seek after the God of David his father..."
Ouch! That pricks my heart with conviction, how about yours?! It makes
you take spiritual inventory real fast, doesn't it? Yes, Josiah picked
up on his father's relationship with God while he was yet young. He began
to search for the Lord early and knew only to turn to the God of his father
- a sobering thought, amen? When you have children, it causes you to take
a very thorough, spiritual inventory - or should! Children are walking
tape recorders of the words we speak within the walls of our homes! Children
are mirrors that reflect the very attitudes and actions that dominate
our character and the daily choices we make. They may fail at listening
to us, but they'll never fail at imitating us... May God help us to wisely
and soberly consider what direction we are causing our young children
to walk in. Can you honestly say you would want them to have the same
relationship you have with God, or would you have to make some serious
changes first?? Have your children begun to reign over their own spirits
yet, or are they still out of control? What positive impact on society
could they possibly have if they haven't yet learned to govern themselves?
The Bible says it's up to us as parents to train our children in the way
that they SHOULD go so that when they are old they will not depart from
it! Wanting to do right won't simply be a phase they will go through,
it will stick for the rest of their lives. Josiah learned righteousness
first at home, lived in strict purity himself, and then fought to uphold
it in society and make a difference...
Vs. 3b-7, "....and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem
from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten
images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and
the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the carved
images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them,
and strowed it upon the graves of them that had been sacrificed unto them.
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed
Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim,
and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. And when
he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven
images into powder, and cut down ALL the idols throughout ALL the land
of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem."
Some of us need to invite Josiah into our homes! I wonder what idols he
would throw out should he come to YOUR house for the day to play with
YOUR children?? I wonder what carved images and molten images he would
have the spiritual eyes to see were wicked that our children are blindly
playing with, day in and day out? I wonder what altars he would break
down in our homes; the television, the computer, or Nintendo perhaps?
I can hear most of our children complaining as I imagine such a visit
taking place... "Mommy, Josiah threw out all my Pokemon toys, my Harry
Potter books, my Disney videos, my computer games, my contemporary Christian
music CD's and even smashed some of my very favorite things to pieces
so I can't even tell what they look like anymore!"
Ladies, this boy was serious about reform, was he not? Josiah didn't return
home to Israel until every corner of Judah and Jerusalem was cleaned out
of ALL it's abominations! And it took a few years... I wonder how serious
any of us really are about reforming our lives and getting rid of ALL
of the idols that hinder our relationship with the Lord! We Christians
talk a good talk, but do we ever put it into action? Have you ever stopped
to consider the things in your life and your children's life from God's
perspective, or do you just buy every popular thing that comes along without
exercising spiritual discernment? Think about it... How would you have
reacted if you were living where Josiah visited? Would you have been mad
at the boy for destroying all the idols within your land? Would you have
been furious with him for upsetting your children by telling them the
truth about that which holds their highest affections? The reason I ask
is because nothing hastens the ruin of a people, nor ripens them for it,
more than their disregard of the attempts made for their reformation....
I say, "Come on over Josiah!!"
Job 11:14, "If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not
wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles."
In closing, let's prayerfully and soberly take inventory of what we are
exposing our children to and allowing their precious, little hands to
play with, what we are depositing in their precious, little minds to feast
on, thereby defiling their precious, little hearts! You see ladies, an
idol represents that which is false and empty, and a person who lives
for idols will himself become false and empty. Sounds like the condition
of many churches today - and many believers! Various idols have captured
the affection of our children's hearts as well as our own, and filled
our lives with emptiness. Such affections belong only to the Lord! The
thing we serve is the thing we worship... If Josiah had sense enough at
such a young age to know the difference, shouldn't we?? May our efforts
to clean up our lives be as extensive as Josiah's were!
1 John 5:21, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen."
Psalm 81:9, "There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou
worship any strange god."
Deuteronomy 11:16, "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived,
and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;"
Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord; that is my name: and my glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
Tomorrow we will continue to look at the marvelous example of this young
boy Josiah, as he continues on to seek to repair the house of the Lord.
But don't leave without a sincere desire to clean up your life and the
life of your children as heartily as Josiah did! Happy and wise are those
who seek the Lord and prepare for usefulness at an early age, when others
are pursuing sinful pleasures, contracting bad habits, and forming ruinous
connections...
Psalm 71:5, "For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from
my youth."
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 1999 Pamela A. Iannello
