When he heard the words

Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, 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 aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” – 2 Kings 22.11-13

It is not only that the workers found the Book and brought it to Josiah, but what he did when it was found. He didn’t just say ‘oh look, here is The Book of the Law, how interesting.’

Josiah took immediate action in response to finding the word of God. He must have known something about it because he immediately tore his clothes in remorse. He knew what the nation had done. He knew they had turned away from God so he sent a committee to go and find out what they needed to do to get back on track. Despite the fact that there was a priest and a scribe there he sent them to someone who could teach them was God had to say. 

But he did already know that the Book had something to do with why Judah was in the state it was in. ‘’Go, ask God about the words of this book and how they relate to us. We are suffering under the wrath of God because our fathers have not obeyed this book. Find out what we need to do to sort this out. 

What part does the word of God play in our lives? When do we do when we dust off our Bibles and read and study them and God speaks to our hearts? Do we close it back up and hide it away again or do we seek to learn more about what God has to say?  Do we do Like Josiah, or do we try to ignore it? Do we let it deal with our sin, or do we carry on like nothing has happened? 

Josiah had the right response when he encountered God’s word. 

Do we?