Wow! Was doing my daily Bible reading yesterday when I came across this passage.
"2And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father..." (II Chronicles 34:2-3)
So at first glance I was like, "Yep, that's good! He sought after the Lord." But each time I went back to it I was more and more amazed at the message there! Take a look, in verse 3 it starts out, "For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father..." which implies that it's following up on something before this. So I went back and took yet another look at verse 2 and saw this. "...And declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left." Still not getting it? Ok, lets put it into plain terms. He sought after the Lord and therefore stayed on the right path! Got it now? :-) But wait! That's not all! I kept looking and realized that we aren't just talking about any man, we are talking about King Josiah and all of this happened at the ripe old age of 16!!! (In verse 1 it says, "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign..." so in the eighth year he would be 16.) So here were my thoughts...
Get this settled while you are young, teenagers! People all over the world tell you that your teen years are your "free and easy" years! But they aren't! They are the years that will establish the rest of your life! And I will take this a step farther and say that I have noticed that at 16 years old is really when it gets to be serious. I know young adults, 18, 20, and 21, who are still struggling in what they believe. Still dabbling in sin here and there. Still taking side paths from time to time. Still acting like life is a game and they don't have to get serious...quite yet. How sad!!!! Right here, in II Chronicles, we have our solution! Seek the Lord at a young age! If you aren't saved, reach out to Jesus in salvation...if you are saved, get serious! Settle your salvation, beliefs, and standards...and stick to them! "Play around time" is over! This is such a huge issue among our young that I could just go on and on about this. But, they say not to beat a dead horse so I'm going to move on a bit.
As I kept reading on down the chapter I notices some things that happened because Josiah had sought the Lord while he was young. In verses 3-8 he took idols (sin) out of Judah and Jerusalem...if you will seek the Lord you will see the things in your life that need to be taken out...and you will take them out! Because they were taking the idols (sin) out, they came across truth, verse 14, and repented, verse 20...instead of arguing and saying that God didn't care or that it was no big deal! In verse 27-28 we see how God blessed his life and the nation because Josiah was willing to humble himself to the Lord and His will...because his heart was tender... Then in verse 32 we see how others were changed by Josiah seeking the Lord...others changed their standards and beliefs and "stood to it"... And those are just the few that I picked out of chapter 34 and his reign continues into chapter 35! Oh what God can do if we will only seek! But that's something we all know, right? But are we doing it? And also, the main theme of this blog is, are you doing it now? At the "young" age of 16? Last week I was at our Bible Camp and the preacher said over and over all week, "You're not too young!!!"
Now I say to you, "You're not too young!" Do this now! Don't waver down the road of life,stopping here and there, until you are 32 and God makes you decide! Or until you get to Heaven and God says, "What did you do in your life?"
Seek Him now, young people! While you are young!!!!
With Prayers and Tears,
Sarah
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AuthorHere you can read "Sarah's Thoughts". A blog by me! Just a little bit once a month, and here and there, about something the Lord is speaking to me about or focusing on a certain verse that I've found particularly interesting for some reason. You can also subscribe (below) to have them directly sent to your email. Just fill in your name and email and put "Newsletter" in the comment box. Also, please feel free to leave a comment on my blog to let me know what you think! I love hearing from you! Thanks! Sarah's Thoughts
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