Seeking God

I bet you thought you would be free from my sermons for another week. Sorry! It was not my week to give the lecture, but I have one in my heart anyway. If you can't read the whole thing, start with the red text.

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near." Isaiah 55:6

The Old Testament continues to amaze me. There is SO much good stuff in there. King Josiah was the last good king of Judah. He was anointed king when he was 8 (Max's age, for reference). When he was 16, he began to seek the Lord and he began destroying idols, altars to idols, Asherah poles, etc. Except unlike the previous good kings, he destroyed them all and completely desecrated the land the items had been on. There were items left from the days of Jeroboam in Israel that he destroyed. Anyway, a few years later, Josiah decided to restore God's temple. As it was being cleaned out, the Book of the Law was found. Scholars believe it was Deuteronomy and not the entire Pentateuch . When Josiah read the scriptures and learned that God would pass judgment on Israel for worshipping idols and for other evil deeds, Josiah tore his robes and sought council. He learned that indeed, Judah would fall, but God blessed him and said it would not occur during his lifetime. Josiah continue to be a godly king even though he knew that God would one day punish Judah. He was a godly king because it was the right thing to do. Josiah died of fatal arrow wounds when he was 39 (my age, for reference).

OK, here is my point--->(This is where you start reading if you skipped part of it).
You have to SEEK GOD. If you want to have God in your life,you can't just say, ok, God, take my life. That is certainly part of it. But you have to do your part, too. You have to seek God by reading the Bible, praying, having fellowship with other Christians. Before Josiah found the Book of the Law, he was already being obedient to God. He was already working on his relationship with God.

I go through dry times when I feel I am not close to God. I get angry sometimes because I feel God left me. Much like Max at Disney World. Larry and I were on our way and Max got distracted by a toy and stopped walking. We realized it and watched him. Max realized he was alone and panicked, then when he found us, he was mad at us for leaving him. If we are walking with God, we can't wander off or get distracted. We have to stay in the Word, we have to stay in prayer, we have to maintain good relationships with people who encourage us in our walks. If we are really far from God, we can be in a cold, dark place and reading the Bible doesn't always immediately warm us up. But continued time with God, through pray and scripture meditation will pull us out.