Instead of the Word of God, the society had seeped into the very fiber of the lifestyles of the people. The trend of the day required a Pacesetter to come to the forefront.
This was the perfect time for Josiah to come into the picture.
In 2 Chronicles 34:1-3, we read of Josiah becoming king of Judah. However, this was not the first time that Josiah is mentioned. Josiah and what he would do is prophesied in 1 Kings 13:2. God knew 322 years before Josiah was born what his destiny was going to be. God looked into the future and saw the need for a Pacesetter.
In the book of Ephesians 2:10 we read: "For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
God has a plan for you to fulfill that no one else can fulfill but you!
Josiah was God's person to bring about the standard in Judah once again. We read that Josiah became king at eight years of age. He reigned for 31 years and did not turn to the right or to the left but he kept his focus straight on God!
Josiah was not going to follow the trends of the society around him, but was going to make a change—He was rising up to be the Pacesetter—Setting the Standard not Following the Trend.
There are some important traits of a person who begins to set a new standard. Let's examine just one of Josiah's traits so we can observe his formula for being a Pacesetter.
Josiah Rediscovered the Word of God
During Josiah's reign, the book of the Law was discovered. Josiah now came face to face with what the Lord required of His people. For the first time, Josiah began to realize how far the trends of his time had taken the people away from serving the true God.
When we discover the Word we realize how far we, as a people, have strayed away from God. In America we must realize that we were founded upon the Word of God.
Even one of our early forefathers, James Madison, said that we have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government—far from it. He said we have staked the future of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.
It was the intent of our founding fathers to have this country founded upon the Word of God and to continue to be governed by the Word Of God.
Patrick Henry, the great patriot, stated: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."
The trends in America have been changing drastically in the last 40 years. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled the following prayer illegal: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country."
The courts continued the trends again, ruling in 1967 a poem illegal that was directed toward God. Our nation has slowly gone the road furthest from the Word of God.
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled against the posting of the Ten Commandments: "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey the commandments...this is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause."
These are the trends that are happening in our nation but it does not have to affect the church. We in the church, like Josiah, have to pray and rediscover the Word of God again.
The Word will tell us the way to live and how to do it. It is a time for Pacesetters to be raised up within the churches of America again.
by Benny Perez
Excerpt permission granted by WinePress Publishing