Heroes!

Josiah is my hero! He was so awesome! I can't wait to meet him in Heaven some day.

As you know, we have been reading through 2 Kings. I keep reading about generations of evil kings. They had totally set aside the Law of the Lord and were worshipping false gods and doing all kinds of wicked things (ripping open pregnant women, sacrificing their own children, etc.) Josiah's own grandfather was probably the worst there was.

But, then you come to Josiah. He started ruling when he was only eight years old, he had an awful heritage. He could have easily gone astray and followed in the footprints of his grandfather and father, but he followed the Lord. He went a step farther than many of the other kings and tore down the "high places" were the people were worshipping idols. He set to restore the house of the Lord. One of the priests found the Book of the Law that had been cast aside generations previous. When Josiah heard the Word of the Lord, he was completely convicted and humbled. He didn't just keep it to himself though, he read it to all the people and made a covenant before all of them to obey the Lord.

Then, he cleaned house! He went through all of Israel and literally tore to pieces all of the idols and alters, and all of the things used to worship the the false gods. I'm sure this made many people very angry, but he didn't care. He was courageous and was serious about getting rid of sin and reestablishing God's Law. He not only acted externally, but he gave the Lord his whole heart and soul.

These are the kind of people we need to hold up as our heroes!