It’s TIME to take a STAND and truly FOLLOW JESUS!
May 13
Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles Chapters 34-36
It’s TIME to take a STAND and truly FOLLOW JESUS!
"Then the king stood in his place and
made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His
commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all
his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the
inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their
fathers." (2 Chron. 34:31-32)
Josiah was
only eight years old when he became the king of Judah (v. 1). Not only did he
do right in the sight of God, he also sought to obey all the commandments of
God with all his heart (34:2-3). When he heard from the ‘Book of the Law’ what
God required from His people, he humbled himself and wept before God since his
heart was tender (v. 27). In order to get everyone involved and committed in serving
God, Josiah sent and gathered all the elders residing in Judah and Jerusalem
(v. 29) as well as the priests, Levites, and all people together in the house
of God.
To address
his people, King Josiah stood by a pillar, which was the official location from
which a king made his authoritative declarations. Then he personally read out
all the words of the Covenant for everyone to hear. After the reading was
completed, Josiah stood in his place and made a personal covenant to follow God
and obey all of God’s commandments written in the ‘Book of the Law’ and took a public stand (v. 31). He then
made all the people to join him in this public
renewal of God’s relationship with them (v. 32). After all, the result of Bible knowledge ought to be
obedience and service, a living commitment to the God of the Word!
Very few of
the kings of Judah promised to follow God as Josiah, who modeled an earnest
attempt to honor God. After David, only Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah made such
public commitments (see 23:3; 29:10; 1 Chr. 17:7–14). They stand head and
shoulders above the other kings of Judah and Israel. In this day and age of
political correctness and watered-down Christianity, it is time for God’s people to take a stand and follow Jesus like
Josiah followed God in his time. This requires a lot of courage and sacrifice
to stand against the tide of public opinion that seeks an easier route of
compromise and tolerance.
As Evangelist
David O. Nunn had one remarked, the church has become so worldly and the world
has become so ‘churchy’ that it has
become impossible to distinguish one from the other. God requires from us to
take a stand of ‘No Compromise’ as it
relates to areas of personal holiness, biblical adherence and doctrinal
integrity. Let us stand firm in our beliefs and be ‘hot’ with our personal commitment to follow Christ; otherwise we
will face the consequences of inaction one day!
"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." (Rev. 3:14-16)
