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2 Kings 23:3, The king stood by the 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, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

As we read today’s chapter, it becomes evident just how prevalent and extensive the worship of other gods had become in Judah.  There were altars to other gods throughout the land, in people’s homes, and even in the temple of the Lord!  After generations of sinful kings, idolatry had become a regular part of their culture.  Josiah cleans everything up.  He destroys the high places, he gets rid of every form of pagan worship, including temple prostitutes, pagan priests, and all those horrible altars. 

While Josiah was faithful and did all he could to renew the covenant with God, as we see in today’s focus verse, it simply wasn’t enough.  Despite repeated warnings, the kings and people of Judah had failed to uphold the covenant.  They had disobeyed God over and over again.  Josiah’s best efforts couldn’t make up for the hundreds of years of sin.  God honored Josiah’s faithfulness, however, and ensured that he would not see the destruction to come.  We see Josiah killed in today’s chapter.  I don’t know about you but I immediately got a sense of foreboding, knowing that things are about to get really bad for Judah.  The scene has been set and we are about the watch it play out. 

Let’s pray…Lord, Forgive us for the many times we fall short of your standard.  Help us to stay focused on you and not the distractions of the world.  Help us be examples of faithfulness in our families, neighborhoods, and communities.  Help us remember who and whose we are.  In Your Name, Amen.