September 22

Josiah Makes a New Beginning

2 Chronicles 34, 35; 2 Kings 22, 23

KEY VERSE: Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.

n 2 Chronicles 34:27

Do you sometimes feel that you are merely one lonely, insignificant person among the six billion people in the world?

Have you sometimes had a desire to do something for God but then decided to do nothing because you felt anything you did would not amount to a hill of beans?

If so, then welcome to the human race! All of us are inclined to feel that way from time to time.

But then we read the Bible. We read the story of one man, a man named Josiah. Even as a child he wanted to obey God. He wanted to do what was right.

So he did. He renounced the evil idolatry of his day. He acted to change things. He implored people to live according to the laws of God.

He was a king and he had more power than you and I do to effect change. But he was still one person and he did what he could.

He made a covenant with God. He began daily to practice godly living. He lived personally in such a holy way that it could be said of him, “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.”

He lived for God with “all his heart, and with all his soul.” He has not halfhearted in keeping his covenant with God.

God used Josiah’s influence to change the behavior of an entire nation. He made a difference. His life had significance.

If God is still God, and I believe he is, then he is still able to use even one holy life to make a difference in the world today.

By the grace of God, you can decide to be such a person. You can trust God to give your dedicated life significance. You can make a difference by the way you live.

Will you?