Whew!

This is the second day in a row that my daily quiet time in the Bible has spoken to me.  Praise God!

Today, I was reading from 2nd Kings about Josiah (I don’t understand God’s message to me about Josiah but this story keeps whacking me upside the head).  Josiah was the king that was declared: “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” - 2 Kings 23:25 ESV

But what hit me this morning was this part, a chapter earlier:

“When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.” - 2 Kings 22:11-20 ESV

Recently, I found a new guilty treat for myself online.  In Arizona, there is a Sheriff Deputy named Frank whose department films him pulling over traffic violators and publishes the videos on YouTube (the videos are called “Fridays with Frank” if you want to look for them).  This guy is big and obviously lifts weights.  He walks up to the vehicle he pulls over and asks them if they know why he pulled them over in the nicest, most polite tone.  I like to hear how the driver tries to wiggle out of getting a ticket.  Regardless, since his department started publishing the videos, one of his common statements has resonated that he is on the mountain of right and the violator is in the valley of wrongness (I’m sure the mountain is right part, but I could be wrong on the valley part).

Have you ever been doing something like driving too fast you knew or maybe didn’t know at the time was illegal only to see a police officer pull someone over and think to yourself: “Whew!  That could have been me!”?  Josiah didn’t do that.  He reinstated the Passover celebration and got rid of (as in the Old Testament got rid of) the idol worship and everything and everybody associated with it.

I’ve been thinking about this because I have the tendency to slightly exceed the speed limit from time to time (to be honest, I have a set amount that I feel comfortably exceeding the speed limit all the time).  Jesus, when they tried to trap him regarding Rome replied: “And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.” - Mark 12:13-17 ESV

I better pray on my attitude towards speeding…