Read the Book: Summer Bible Planনমুনা

2 KINGS 22-23, 2 CHRON. 34-35 - CLEANING HOUSE Do you ever wonder how King Josiah knew to seek the Lord? His grandfather Manasseh was probably the most evil of the kings who led God’s people. Josiah’s own father, Amon, was murdered by his servants which made Josiah the next king of Judah at the age of 8 years. In spite of the evil Josiah’s father and grandfather had done in the land of Judah, it says in 2 Chronicles 34:3, “For in the eighth year of his [Josiah’s] reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.” Josiah was 16 years old when he began to seek the Lord and 20 when he started to destroy the many idols to where God’s people turned. While Josiah was young, Zephaniah began to prophesy urging the people to seek the Lord. And Jeremiah began to prophesy urging the people to repent and live. Then the Book of the Law was found in the house of the Lord when Josiah was 26 years old, at which time Josiah tore his clothes and mourned the deeply-rooted sin that surrounded God’s people. He recognized the truth of the Word and returned to God. Josiah and God’s people displayed a zealousness of turning back to Him when sin was discovered, and this is just as important today. Dear God, please give me the continual desire through your Holy Spirit to saturate my mind with your Word. Your Word exposes my sin but also helps me repent and to rejoice at my redemption through your Son Jesus Christ. Amen. Family Connection: King Josiah recognized the sin in his midst and did something about it. What sins are your family exposed to and what can you do about it? It could be movies, TV shows, video games that aren’t beneficial, or it could be situations at school or on a sports team. Talk as a family about these things.