Fri.’s Devo -Josiah

Read: 2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33; Romans 16:8-27; Psalm 261-12; Proverbs 20:19
Manasseh, who started out so bad, ended up restoring the altar and serving the Lord. When he died, his son, Amon did not do well but did evil and never repented. His son, Josiah ruled after him and became king at the age of eight becoming the youngest king Judah ever had. He began to seek the Lord at the age of sixteen and rid the nation of the evil his father Amon had set up. When he was 26 he had the Levites restore the Temple that was in disrepair. While renovating the temple, they found a copy of the law and read it to Josiah. He tore his robes as he heard how far they had gone from worshipping the Lord the way God had written. He turned his heart to seek the Lord and asked to speak to the prophetess Huldah. She sought God’s word and found that God was not happy with Judah for turning so far from him. Because Josiah had humbled himself, God would hold his judgment on Judah till he was dead.
Three hundred years before Josiah was born, his name was mentioned by an unnamed prophet (1 Kings 13:2) that he would tear down the altar that Jeroboam had built to sacrifice to Baal. I wonder if he read his name in the manuscripts he found in the temple. I would think he did because he did exactly that in his life. He not only removed the idolatry in Judah but he removed all the idols from the territory belonging to the Israelites and as long as he lived, they did not stop following the Lord.
In Romans, Christianity was a new concept. It was the truth so Satan had his counterfeit religion to deceive the people. He is OK with us believing in God, as long as he can keep us from believing in Jesus. Jesus is the door to God and the only way to eternal life. Paul told them to be wise about the things that are good and innocent about what is evil. We are not to even speak of the things that evil people do in secret (Ephesians 5:12). David declared in today’s Psalm that he did not sit with deceitful men or people who hated the Lord. He chose to surround himself with believers when it came to counsel and close companions.
Lord, help us to be wise in all our choices. Surround us with people that can encourage us in our walk so we can reach out to those who need the truth.