2 Chronicles 34:31 “The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.” [NIV]
Disheartened. Discouraged. Demoralized. Any of those sentiments describe you? Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel? How can we stay faithful to the call when we feel mentally and emotionally paralyzed?
King Josiah inspires me. If anyone might feel justified in giving up, it would be him. In spite of all his efforts, sure destruction was coming to his beloved country. He had led Judah through numerous reforms since his assent to the throne. In the midst of repairing the temple, the priest discovered the Book of the Law. As Josiah read about Israel’s covenant with God, he tore his robes in distress. He knew the people had broken the covenant. They were gone-ers. The prophetess, Huldah, confirmed Josiah’s assessment. She told him all the curses for unfaithfulness were, indeed, coming to pass. So how did Josiah respond to such dire news? You might think he would be so distressed, he would throw up his hands and quit. But quitting was not in his repertoire. Doing the right thing was.
He called all the people together and renewed the Covenant. He charged them to obey every word of the Law. Nowhere does scripture indicate he did this to somehow appease God, to get him to change his mind. He simply purposed that in the time they had left as a nation, the people of Judah would do the right thing no matter what.
And so must we. Whether we feel our family is falling apart or our country is going down the tubes, our challenge as believers remains. No matter the cost. No matter what others do. No matter what we think the outcome will be. We must do the right thing anyway.
We must speak the truth as long as we have breath. Walk in love as long as we have a beating heart. Resist the temptation to throw in the towel. Make every day count for God. To whatever extent we can, we must always do the right thing.