READING THE BOOK OF SECOND KINGS CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
It does not matter where we are or what we have done, God is ready to listen to our prayers and respond.
Our favorite verse in 2 Kings Chapter 22 is:
Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse[b]and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. (2 kings 22:19 NIV)
Lesson
Capitalize on the time given to us through grace, to be in communion with God.
- Josiah was 18 years old when he began one of the most important spiritual reforms for the people of God. This historical event challenges young people today to repeat this same spiritual awakening among God’s people. Let us pray for our youth, so that they effective tools of spiritual reform among us.
- Passages such as those from Deuteronomy 32:1-4, 7-10, 15-21, 23, 24, 28-31, 34, 35 and others present Josiah love for God and His people. When the king read the prophecies about the judgment that were to fall upon those who persisted in sin he trembled seeing the perversity of the people of Judah. What would be the result of continual apostasy today?
- God delights in forgiving the sinner. When somebody repends and humbles upon the Lord, he extends the time of grace and offers His forgiveness. The example of Josiah teaches us that once the sinner has the desire to change and calls for forgiveness, God hears their prayer, rejoices, forgives, and immediately answers.
Prayer.
Merciful and forgiving father. We beg you to forgive our sins and imperfections, to extend your forgiving grace unto us. May your Holy Spirit guide us to a path of spiritual reform in our lives. In the name of Jesus, Amen.