Young But Surrendered

2 Chronicles 34:14-21

Verse 21  “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found.  Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

    Yesterday we were talking about the directives from the Lord that would keep His anger at bay.  Today we see a king who was calling for repentance because he saw the truth of the sin of the nation and how it had brought God’s wrath upon them.

    This king was eight years old when he took the throne, but God had plans for him.  At 16 years young he began to seek God, 4 years later he cleared the region of the idols and temples of the false gods and burned the pagan priests on their altars.  Then when he was 26 he got everything organized for the restoration of the Temple.  It was during this restoration that the scroll of the Law was found.

    Did you notice how King Josiah responded to the reading of the law?  He went into mourning and asked his personal adviser and the court secretary to go to the Temple and talk to God for him.  Have we ever felt so convicted of our sin that we didn’t feel like we could go to God and have Him listen to us?  It is important to feel the need to repent and go to God to make things right with Him.

    We can’t repent if we are not willing to surrender, as the very act of repentance is putting ourselves under an authority figure.  When we repent to God we are saying that He is greater than we are and that He deserves our submission to His authority.  When we see our sins in the light of His holiness we know that we are not on His level, even in the slightest, and so submission is the only response worthy of God.

    King Josiah was a leader in the truest form.  Notice that his orders didn’t just include going to God for his personal sins but also for the remnant of Israel and Judah.  As the leader, he knew a couple of things.  The first was that as a leader, if the people were off track with God, he bore some of the responsibility of not leading in the way of God.  Secondly, the sin of falling away was a community sin and it needed to be repented of by the community and as the king, he saw himself as the people’s spokesman.  If these people were going to go back to right standing with God, it had to start with him and it required repentant surrendering.

Making It Personal

    Have you been growing in your relationship with God?  Do you have some sort of leadership role that puts you in a place of leading others to Christ by the way you live?  Is there something you need to repent about that you know has to be taken care of before your praise can be offered to God?

Making It Personal Kids

    Can you imagine being king or queen at your age?  What does it mean to seek God?  Do you have something to tell God you are sorry about?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for young people that You have already been drawing to You.  Help us come to You in surrendered repentance.  Make us more like You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.