The Power of ONE, King Josiah

Are you like me and wear glasses?
Have you ever lost your glasses and couldn't see? Arggg! :/

I don't have "perfect" vision. My glasses broke two Sundays ago and the headache I had at the end of the day from not being able to see was awful! Can I get an "Amen" from my nearsighted and farsighted brothers and sisters?!

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Farley of Wythe Eye Associates (my amazing sister-in-law and her optometry staff) for coming to my aid. I was blessed with a next day appointment, a thorough exam, playmate and scientific eye ball models for my 4 year old son who accompanied me, and honest fashion advice from family on a new set of frames. Thanks, Melissa! I love how they look and how I now can see!

So, my prescription had to be changed. No surprise...but would you believe for the better!! As the doctor said, "Yes, that is ONE of the good things that happens in your 30's...your nearsightedness improves" (that's your ability to see far away for those - like me - who get the two mixed up). Are you kidding me?! I thought Melissa was just being nice...she turns the big 3-0 soon!

WOW, I thought! ONE of the good things that comes with age.... Now, you know me, the wheels started turning and I thought of our most recent middle/high school Bible Study lesson...King Josiah!

Do you know the story?! It is soo good!

As Hilkiah (a.k.a Jeremiah's dad and the high priest in the temple during the reign of King Josiah) followed orders to spruce up the temple (he probably swept for days, took out mounds of trash, dusted and wiped things off, cleared out years of debris), scripture tells us that he hired a few contractors. Things were really in bad shape.

But, that is when IT happened! He found ONE, only ONE, long lost copy of the Word of God. ONE in all of Judah! Some think it was the first five books of the Bible, others think it was just the book of Deuteronomy. I am not sure, all I know is that it was ONE inspired writing! I picture this high priest weeping and clutching the scroll(s) to his chest as tears streak his dusty face, I would have. How was he priest without a copy of the Word, I wonder!? But as King Josiah asked for the Word to read to him, it is recorded that Josiah ripped his royal robes (which is the equivalent of us slapping ourselves in the forehead)! Bet that cost more than my glasses!

The newly found Word of God said, in effect, that God would judge those who did not follow His commandments. Slap yourself in the fore-head guilty! King Josiah believed God. This ONE experience with this ONE exposure to the Word of God was like giving King Josiah ONE brand-spankin' new pair of glasses! When the Word was taken to the prophetess Huldah (Jeremiah's aunt, Hilkiah's sister), hearing from God, she said...

"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 and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the LORD...Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place'" (2 Kings 22:19-20).

God would not allow Josiah to see the destruction and devastation that would come to the people because of ONE whole-hearted and repentant commitment to led that generation in revival.

King Josiah now held the scrolls, stood at God's house, not his, and read the Word himself, not someone else, to the entire nation. What would that have looked like?!! Second Kings 23:3 gives us a glimpse,

"The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD—to follow the LORD and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant."

The consequences of the nations' sin did come, but not under the repentant leadership of King Josiah. ONE Word found. ONE King's ripped robe. ONE pillar passage read. ALL people pledged. Did I mention he was only 26?! He wasn't even in his 30s yet, Melissa!

What vision Josiah had for the long distance future of his people! More chapters go on to tell us all that King Josiah did to see to the revival of his land. Look at what it says here, "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). How God perfected his vision at such an early age...enough to change an entire generation for the Lord.

I'm not an optometrist, but I would say King Josiah's prescription was not 20/20, it was better. More like 1/22. James 1:22 says, "Be ye doers of the Word, not just hearers only."

Let's not just fix our old glasses, but use the Word to perfect our vision...up close and on into the future, spiritual and physical, inside and out. Do we see repentance and revival in ourselves, homes, churches, Bible studies and beyond? Are you satisfied with the world's 20/20 or the Word's 1/22? Do you have people along side you who help focus or blur your vision? Do you long for eyes like Jesus?

Come into His Presence, no appointment necessary.