Getting rid of the junk

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. – 2 Kings 23v4

One of the big problems for Christians is something that Josiah knew how to deal with.

Once he had become king and looked in to what the word of God said he acted on it. There are several verses here that list all of the things that he purged from the Temple. It is tragic to see what the people had allowed in there, but the point is that Josiah got rid of everything that was against God.

In retrospect that makes perfect sense. Of course if a king wanted to get the nation right with God he is going to get rid of all the junk that is in the Temple. It would not make any sense to try and move forward with God while His Temple still had pagan gods and images.

But wait a minute. Most Christians would say that they really want to follow God. Anyone who has any kind of serious perspective on their faith says that they want to do what is right. If that is not there then there needs to be some serious self examination.

Yet, how many of those same Christians have all kinds on junk in their lives? How often do we cling on to all kinds of sins and activities that are just as much of an abomination to God as those pagan idols?

Anyone who is serious about serving God needs to follow Josiah’s example and do some serious house cleaning. It is time to get rid of the junk.