I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 34-36.

I love the story of Josiah.  He became king at a young age, clearly under the oversight of regents.  As he started to be allowed to make his own decisions he chose to seek God.  As soon as he was of age to rule in his own right he began to fight against idolatry in the land under his control.  Once he had cleansed the land of idolatry he turned his attention to restoring the Temple.  In the process of cleaning the Temple, the priests found a copy of the Book of the Law and brought it to Josiah.  Which raises the question of what Josiah and the others worshiping God were basing their actions on?  Perhaps they had traditions passed down to them from previous generations, or perhaps they had partial records of God’s Law.  The important thing is that when Josiah heard what was in the Book of the Law, he immediately responded to it and began implementing it.

King Josiah’s first act upon hearing what God actually required was to tear his clothes in grief over how badly the people of Israel had failed to keep God’s covenant with them.  His second act was to seek God’s guidance on what he, and the people, should do.  Then, when he was told that God’s wrath could not be averted, Josiah chose to enthusiastically worship God and follow His Law to the best of his ability.  Josiah did not serve God because he saw it as the path to wealth and power.  He served God because it gave him joy to do so.