“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14)
Might 2020 be the year we spiritually wake up?
In 2 Kings 22, young King Josiah orders his servants to begin work repairing the temple. One of the servants, Hilkiah, finds the book of the law that has been lost - the first 5 books of our Old Testament, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The servants bring the book to the king, apparently not knowing what they had stumbled upon, and begin to read it. In 2 Kings 22:11-13 we read, “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ‘Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and 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 kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.’”
Josiah knew immediately the weight of what had just happened. God’s law, which had been lost and ignored for many years, stemming from the rule of ungodly kings before Josiah, had now been found. The people had not been obedient to these words because they had not been reading them. Josiah tore his clothes - a sign of extreme anguish and repentance. He then proceeded to gather all the people and he, himself, read every word of the book of the law out loud in the hearing of the people (See 2 Kings 23:1-3)! This began a season of reform, revival, and return to the Lord in Judah.
The people of Judah woke up that day. They woke up to the reality of God’s word. Will you do the same in 2020? Will you open God’s word each day and allow it to expose your own apathy, indifference, lack of zeal, and lukewarm-ness toward God? What would our lives look like if God’s word absolutely captivated our hearts this year? What would our church look like? What lives would be eternally changed?
In the first chapter of Joshua, God charges Israel's new leader, "Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8)
The author of Psalm 119 tells us how important God's word was to him... "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against God." (Psalm 119:11)
In the same way Job tells us, "I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread." (Job 23:12)
In 2020 I pray that God would wake each one of us up in the same way he woke up Josiah and the people of Judah… myself included! I pray that he would wake us up to the supreme and ultimate reality of his word. I pray that we would hunger after it more than even our food. I pray that we feel the same longing that David felt in Psalm 42:2 when he says, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"
Lord, wake us up and show us your glory through your word... for if we could but see it, everything would change!
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