Sunday, June 19
Always reforming
Scripture: 2 Kings 23-24, 2 Thessalonians 2
2 Kings 23:1–2 So the king sent messengers, and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple.
Observation
King Josiah’s huge reform began when they found the Book of the Law in the temple. Imagine—Josiah had never heard God’s Law, the foundation for their faith and their nation! When he read it, he tore his clothes in grief and inquired of the Lord what to do. Then he began his thorough reforms.
What did he do? Two things.
First, he did what the Law said, starting with renewing the covenant between God and His people, celebrating the Passover (calling them back to their roots) and obeying God’s word.
Second, and most prominently in the text, he cleansed the nation of all its idolatry. Repeatedly, Josiah “tore down,” “burned,” “did away with,” “defiled,” “removed,” and “eradicated” all the accoutrements of idolatry, going all the way back to Solomon. There was no king like him before or after who turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul and strength.
Application
In a book I’m reading, the Presbyterian author said that their motto is “The church reformed, always reforming.”
Always reforming. I like that…and believe it’s true. And that constant reformation for us starts, as it did for Josiah, by renewed attention to God’s word and doing what it says, and by getting rid of our idols, those things that keep us from following Jesus heart and soul.
Just this week, the Lord spoke to me about some idolatry—something that had become too important to me and was distracting me from Him and from His mission. I’m reforming.
And of course, each day as I meet with Jesus and spend time in His word and prayer, I’m reforming, recalibrating around His word. My time in His word and in prayer is so important. The Lord spoke to me in prayer on Friday and again on Saturday night at church—and His word to me was a reforming word, changing me.
Always reforming.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for faithfully changing me into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18). Help me to listen to Your word in Scripture and the Spirit’s whisper, and be always reforming.