Radically Josiah

We live in a world where people commonly make fantastic claims. Over and over we hear that something or someone is the best ever. As a sports fan, I’ve noticed that one week the commentators will all be proclaiming one basketball player the greatest ever; the very next week it will be a new player. So the fantastic claims of men and women don’t amount to much. However, when God makes an absolute claim, we can be assured it is true! And He makes one of these claims about Josiah.

Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses (2 Kings 23:25).

The Word of God tells us that there had never been a king like Josiah, who turned to God with all his heart, soul, and strength. No one had ever been as passionate, as devoted, as committed as he was, and God wanted everyone to know this. What was it about Josiah that made him so different from all those before and after him? Three quick areas of his life that help us understand what made him so excellent are the following:

1) Josiah was full of the fire of God. The name Josiah means “the fire of God.” From the age of 16 he began to earnestly seek God and God responded by filling him with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

2) Josiah tore up every idol. Josiah had no mercy on the idols in the land of Judah but viciously tore them down. He allowed no idolatry in his heart. We need to be purged of all idolatry as well, having no love of money, popularity, and natural things.

3) Josiah celebrated salvation. He held the biggest Passover celebration in Israel’s history, remembering God’s saving power. Do we celebrate the salvation God has given us by sharing it with our friends?

Let’s follow Josiah’s example. He brought great revival to his nation through his sold-out commitment to God. Let’s live crazily, hilariously, and radically like Josiah did. Our nation and generation can be changed!

Hope

"Who [Abraham], contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations (Romans 4:18)."

A post by my sister-in-law earlier this week got me thinking about hope...read her inspiring article here.

What does it mean to hope? The above verse describes for us the character of Abraham; when his situation looked dark, he continued to hope in God. We know that in the end of Abraham’s story, he did indeed receive what he hoped for-a son, an inheritance, and the promise of God. But that doesn’t answer our question. What exactly is hope?

Hope is a confident expectation in the goodness of God, rooted first in the character of God and then in our experiences with Him. It’s rooted in God’s character in that we know that God is a good God. We know that we can trust in Him to work for all things together for our good, even if things are difficult for some time. We hope in God because we know He is sovereign, loving, and completely in control of all things on earth.

Next, it’s rooted in our experiences with God because we have seen Him deliver us and bring about His good plans in the past. Experience is an absolutely essential ingredient of hope! What has God done in your past? What sins has He empowered you to overcome? What miracles has He brought about? Which of your friends or family members has He brought to salvation? Hope is built out of these great experiences in God.

This brings us to the difference between hope and faith. Faith is based on the Word of God and is a substance that always brings about results. Hope, on the other hand, isn’t based on a direct word form God but rather from an experiential knowledge of His ways. And when the Bible speaks of faith, hope, and love, telling us that the the greatest of the three is love (1 Corinthians 13:13), that implies that hope is even better than faith! You see, faith is the foundation of everything we receive in the Kingdom of God (and we only come to hope through faith), but hope is greater than faith since it comes through experiences with God. Hope is truly an amazing thing!

So let’s be people who hope in the mercy, grace, and favor of God. Are you going through a difficult time? Be a prisoner of hope (Zechariah 9:12), knowing that God is going to bring about His good purpose through it. Be like David, who reminded himself to hope in God (Psalm 42:5). Hope never, ever, ever disappoints; we are always benefited by hoping in God. So hope at all times!

Determination

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

One of my favorite places in Singapore is the Singapore Zoo, and one of my favorite places to visit in the zoo is the Great Rift Valley display. This display hosts a great collection of baboons, and they are truly amazing to watch! They jump, fight, and eat in vivid fashion, but, to me, the most remarkable thing about the baboons is the way the babies hold onto their mothers. The young baboons will cling so tightly onto the tail of their mother. Wherever the mother goes, the baby stays connected, following the tail. It often looks as if the baboon will lose its grip, but it never does.

The tenacity of the baby baboon can be inspiring for us. How determined are we in our spiritual walk? God is looking for people who will cling to Him and, by His grace, not let go. Do we have that kind of spirit?

Jacob was a man in the Bible who did have that attitude. He was the grandson of Abraham and was in line to receive all the blessings that God had promised his grandfather. However, he was also a liar; in fact, his name even meant “crooked, deceiver.” Jacob had been lying, cheating, deceiving his entire life, but he realized that he could not continue to go on that way.

In one critical moment in Jacob’s life, a man came and began wrestling with him. The man and Jacob wrestled throughout the night, and Jacob realized that this was not just a man he was wrestling with-it was actually God. Jacob declared that he would not let go until the man blessed him. At that moment, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. He was changed from being a deceiver to being a prince. His determination had been rewarded.

So let’s resolve to follow God and cling onto His ways. Let’s not be satisfied to remain at the same level of spiritual growth, but cry out for God to change us and bring us into more of His glory. Remember this-determination does not mean that we are clinging onto God by our own strength. It is only through His grace and by His grace that we even have the desire to meet with Him. Rather, determination means that we commit to cooperation with Him, and we learn to yield to His grace at all times. God has great plans for our lives in the upcoming year, but will we hold onto Him to achieve those plans? Let’s be like Israel and obtain God’s promises.

Desperation

"And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Mark 10:47)”

My son will turn one month old tomorrow. As a new parent, there are many lessons that can be learned. One thing that has impressed me is the way my son acts when he’s hungry. One moment, he will be lying around peacefully, sleeping or just staring into the distance. The next moment, he will be screaming at the top of his lungs. As soon as he realizes he’s hungry, he cries out for milk! Eating becomes the only thing on his mind, his one concern in life. And he lets everybody know about it! (Fortunately, my baby does not scream much otherwise-only when he’s hungry!)

As young people, we no longer have this desperation for natural food, and that’s a good thing (screaming in public every time you feel hungry would not look good). However, we should have this desperation when it comes to the presence of God. We should be passionate and completely in need of God in our lives. Let’s break out of all complacency and wrong contentedness to cry out for God.

One man in the Bible who demonstrated this quality of desperation was Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was a blind man who spent his whole life begging at the road side. One day, however, he heard that Jesus was passing by. He knew that this could be his only chance to meet Jesus and be healed, so he began to cry out to attract the Savior’s attention. All those around him told him to be quiet, not to scream so loud, but Bartimaeus began screaming even louder, “Jesus, have mercy on me! Jesus, have mercy on me!” Jesus heard his desperate cries, turned towards the man, and healed him. Bartimaeus’ desperation led to his miracle.

God is looking for that same desperation of Bartimaeus in our lives today. Will you cry out for Him and make Him your greatest desire? Jesus should not just be our number one priority, He should be our only priority. Every other good part of our lives flows out of our relationship with Him. Let’s cry out for more of God, for only He satisfies.