He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah. (2 Kings 23:5)
SATAN LOVES TO WHITEWASH SIN. He tries to convince us that if other religions don’t bother us, we shouldn’t worry about them. If we do something wrong ourselves, he soothes our uncomfortable conscience by justifying the behavior. God tells a different story.
The book of the law discovered during the repair of the temple revealed God’s attitude about false gods. Any doubts King Josiah entertained about purging his country of idol worship disappeared. I can imagine the words of the Ten Commandments burning into Josiah’s heart as he ordered the priests to remove the tokens of idol worship from the temple and rid Judah of the false prophets. Josiah must have felt the Lord was speaking to him when he read, “You shall have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven images. I am a jealous God.”
Do you feel the same urgency about getting rid of sin in the temple of your heart? Since the beginning of time, Satan has planted seeds of doubt, nudging people to question, “Did God really say that?” God hates sin so much that nothing besides the death of His Son could save us from His wrath. Join Josiah in the practice of what the psalmist said, “Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones” (Ps. 97:10).
Purge sin from your life just as Josiah did.
Leah E. Good is a daughter of God, lover of stories, and passionate orphan care advocate. She lives with her family in beautiful New England.
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
