Take Out The Trash

“... in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he (Josiah) began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.” - 2 Chronicles 34:3

Is it possible for a nation to experience a great awakening? Can a nation really experience a spiritual turnaround, even after years of spiritual neglect and apostasy? It is not only possible for such a reversal to occur, it has actually happened before. When Josiah began to reign in Jerusalem, everything was a mess. Evil kings had preceded Josiah. Their decisions and evil works had led Judah astray.

As I wrote in an earlier blog this week, our nation is in a mess. A lot of accusations, excuses and finger-pointing has been going on in the aftermath of the breach at the US Capitol. It is embarrassing and shameful for our nation to be a such a low ebb. Vance Havner once said that the lowest ebb is the coming of the tide. We need the tide of revival to sweep our land. I am reminded of the old song,

Sweeping this way, yes, sweeping this way,
A mighty revival is sweeping this way.
Keep on believing, trust and obey;
A mighty revival is sweeping this way.

O, may this song be true of America in 2021! Such a revival occurred during the reign of Josiah. He began to reign at the very young age of eight years old. Our text teaches us that, “... in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.” When he was just sixteen years of age, a mighty change began in their country. Notice two things that occurred:

1. JOSIAH SOUGHT THE LORD

First of all, our text teaches us that Josiah sought the God of David his father. Josiah sought the Lord. What is wrong with American Christians? Many have sought after a Trump revival and others have sought a Trump removal. Why have we placed so much confidence in people or politics? The Bible says, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in men.”

The Bible says, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.” Additionally, Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We need to seek the Lord today. It is time we quit playing games and seriously seek God.

It is true that Josiah was a king and we're not. He had position and power than enabled him to make changes in his country. We don't have that luxury. I learned long ago that I don't have the power to change America, but with God's grace and help, I can be changed. America can only be changed one person at at a time.

We shouldn't expect politicians, actors or athletes to seek the Lord, if we aren't seeking Him. We claim to be followers of Jesus, but are we really following Him?

Let me also clarify something. It is one thing to seek the hand of God, it is another to seek His face. Most of the time, we seek blessings from His hand, but never seek the face of the Lord Himself.

2. JOSIAH CLEANSED THE LAND

Secondly, at age 20, Josiah began to cleanse the land. He began removing idols. Most of us could boast that we don't have images, carvings or statues in our homes that we worship. Yet we can have idols in our hearts. Johnny Hunt once defined an idol as a God-substitute. We are only kidding ourselves if we think that idols don't exist. Social media can be an idol. Politics can be an idol. Sports can be an idol. We can make idols of our hobbies, money, career or even family. Anything that takes the rightful place of God in your life is an idol.

Josiah began the long process of cleaning up the land. On a regular basis, you probably take out the trash where you live and work. Taking out trash is not a fun job. It can be messy. Yet it is needful. We need to get rid of junk, waste and garbage. The same thing is true of our lives.

It is not my job to clean up America, but I can clean up my part of America. I can't rid this nation of its numerous idols, but with God's help, I can get rid of the idols from my own life. I can't force Biden or Trump to seek God, but I can seek Him myself. I can't cause this nation to experience a spiritual revival, but I can submit myself to God and ask Him to bring such a revival in me.

I need to seek God and take out the trash in my own life. I need to get rid of idols, selfishness and pride. I need to take out the trash of arrogance, self-righteousness and wrong priorities. Garbage can easily take over a person's life. The only way to keep your life clean is to regularly take out the trash.

Today is a good day to start!