Don't Let Your Age Limit You

2 Chronicles 34:3-4: "In the eighth year of his (Josiah's) reign, while he was still young, he began to seek to God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images."



Josiah is a king that teaches us that we are never too young to make an impact for the kingdom of God. Despite being born to a wicked father (King Amon), Josiah would not follow the ways of his predecessor, but would seek to obey the Lord. Josiah was just eight when he was declared king of Judah; his father had been assassinated at the hands of the royal officials, and the people of the land responded by the coronation of the young Josiah as their next king.



Scripture records that when Josiah was just 16, "while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David." By the time he was 20 he purged his kingdom of all the pagan idols and altars that his forefathers had built to defy the worship of the One True God. The description of this "purging" is rather graphic; words/phrases like "smash," "scatter," "cut to pieces," and "crush to powder" are used in Scripture to describe the way in which the idols were destroyed. I believe that such verbiage is used to let us know that Josiah was not half-hearted in his determination to rid his people of such spiritual filth. He demonstratively obliterated anything that would be used to circumvent his people's hearts from worshipping and obeying the Lord
exclusively. There was passion and strong conviction in the king as he resolved to serve God alone.



When he was 26, Josiah ordered that the temple of the Lord be repaired; he desired for his people to give of their very best to the place where the glory of God resided. If God was to be placed first in the lives of the people, he wanted to make certain that they were not merely giving to Him their leftovers. The Lord was worthy of their very best.



A beautiful thing occurred at this point. While the workers were repairing the temple, Hilkiah the priest found a scroll that had been hidden in the temple unbeknownst to anyone. It was given to Shaphan, the secretary of the king, who in turn read it to Josiah. When Josiah heard the Book of the Covenant read, he was cut to the heart. He tore his royal garments as a sign of mourning for the sins of his predecessors against the Lord. The king new that the Lord would be true to the pronounced curses that He would enact against the rebellious behavior of the covenant community. The king immediately sent the priest to the prophetess, Huldah, to inquire of the Lord if His judgment would be enacted during Josiah's reign. The prophetess in turn declared that God's righteous wrath would be poured out upon the kingdom, but not during Josiah's reign, for his heart had been responsive and humble when he heard the Book of the Law.



When the king received this word of reprieve, he went to the temple of the Lord and summoned all of his subjects, from the least to the greatest, to follow him there. As he had the Book of the Covenant re-read to the people, the king renewed his commitment to the covenant stipulations found in the Scriptures, and he had everyone in his kingdom pledge to be obedient to the law of the LORD.



The 26-year-old king then renewed the celebration of the Passover, remembering God's faithful deliverance of His covenant people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Scripture records that "the Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah" (2 Chronicles 35:18). The king knew of the importance of this celebration as an expression of thanksgiving for the sole provision of God in bringing deliverance for His people, and he took great measures to assure that his kingdom honored God because of His goodness to His people.



Although Josiah would live only to the age of 39, he ended up accomplishing more for the kingdom of God than most of the kings before or after him. Scripture in fact records that Josiah, "turned to the Lord . . . with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses." Despite his young age, Josiah knew that he still had a responsibility to be obedient to the Lord, and God used the king's faithfulness to bring revival to the people of Judah.



Remember, one is never too young to make a significant impact for the Lord and His kingdom. We must remember that our ability to accomplish anything for the Lord is birthed and empowered by the Holy Spirit who resides within the true believer of Christ. When we are yielded to Him as Lord and seek to obey His commands, we will find that the Lord will work through us to fulfill His will in us, no matter what our age may be.