Trust and Obey

After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and Josiah and his army marched out to fight him. But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message: “What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my way to fight another nation, and God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.” But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken, and he would not turn back. Instead, he disguised himself and led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo. But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him. He cried out to his men, “Take me from the battle, for I am badly wounded!” So they lifted Josiah out of his chariot and placed him in another chariot. Then they brought him back to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried there in the royal cemetery. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. [2 Chronicles 35.20-24]

It is just too bad, but it happens. Good people make bad choices at times.

The lesson here for us is that we too, no matter how good we may be, have the potential to fail to seek God - and, it could cost us like it cost Josiah.

I wonder how many of the bad things that happen in our lives are the result of some inadvertent oversight on our part - a failure to seek God and His will in any particular event or circumstance that ultimately yields undesirable results. It could be a simple nudging of the Holy Spirit that directs us to do something or another that we ignore or overlook. Or perhaps we simply let pride cloud good judgment and we end up in trouble.

I suppose we could claim "Jesus." But, does Jesus prevent us from making bad choices? Only to the degree we allow Him to live through us. Still, our will plays a role in how much we allow Him to live through us.

The fact remains, Josiah went down in history as a "good king." However, he did indeed make a bad choice that cost him his life.

Personally, I have no trouble reconciling any of this. God has always tried to get His people to do right with the promise of blessing to follow. To the contrary, He has always tried to get His people to avoid disobedience and its consequences (curses). And, while Jesus paid the price for disobedience, we only reap the benefit of His efforts through faith. We cannot escape the necessity upon our lives to trust and obey if we wish to live in God's blessing. Any suggestion otherwise is ludicrous.

Father, I want to be found trusting and obeying You. I believe in Jesus and His redemption on my behalf - I trust Him - and I necessarily obey Your's and His requirement to believe.