Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what He spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before Me and tore your robes and wept in My presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.
2 Chronicles 34:27 (NIV)
When we read God's word in 2 Chronicles 7:14, asking His people to turn to Him, seek His face in prayer and abandon their lives of sin, we can consider Josiah's attitude as an act of obedience, submission and repentance. He was only a child when he became king (eight years old). He began seeking the face of God at 16 years old. He was a king, and like children of his age, he could choose to enjoy his kingship, but he chose to seek God.
The book of the law of Moses had long been missing; it was found and read to Josiah. After hearing the contents of the book, conscious of his condition and that of the people, he humbled himself before God, tore his garment and called all the people to repentance. It is a proof of the importance and effect of the word of God in the life of the believer. Has the word of God ever had such an effect on you after you had neglected it for a time?
God always intervenes at the right time. He arranged for the priest to discover the book just when Josiah was truly ready to receive what was written in it. This reading opened his eyes and allowed him to realize the seriousness of the people's sin. Like Josiah, it's time to take God's word seriously and let it transform and restore your life with the help of the Holy Spirit. If it helped Josiah see God differently, it can also help you grow in the knowledge of His will.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
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