What idols are in your life?
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We are continuing our series this morning The Heart Matters
This 6 week series leading up to to Easter Sunday will encourage you to examine your heart, your motivations, and your loves as you walk in repentance toward Resurrection Sunday. This season reminds us that we are all broken and in need of a Savior who has overcome sin and death.
This morning we will be in 2 Chronicles 34:1–33. So if you have your bible go ahead and turn there. If not you can follow along on the screen in a few moments.
We will be looking at a boy king named Josiah and how he brought the Israelites back to God.
Before we look at this. I have a question for you. So thing for a moment.
What motivates you to get up in the morning?
What motivates you to get up in the morning?
There are a lot that can motivate you to get up. Kids needing help, have having to get ready for work, Coffee/ Latte thats Nikki motivation to get up.
Most of the time are motive are usually fuelled by our desires, our priorities are often dictated by the speed of life that we find ourselves living.
We wouldn’t say we necessarily idolize our phones, or children’s extracurricular activities, or having the perfect home, or looking flawless, but so often these little things become the altars that we worship at.
It is when we pause and thoughtfully look at how we invite God into our lives that our modern idols reveal themselves. Jesus taught that the greatest commandment was to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37–38). Is that how we live? What does that look like?
Lets take a look at King Josiah and what he did.
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images.
4 Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he chopped down the shrines that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5 He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
6 He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.
7 He tore down the altars, and he smashed the Asherah poles and the carved images to powder. He chopped down all the shrines throughout the land of Israel and returned to Jerusalem.
King Josiah
King Josiah
The book of 2 Chronicles spends sometime tell about King Josiah. This boy that became King at only 8 know who God was and walked with him like David did. Josiah walk that straight road not allowing himself to go to the right or the left. I guess you could say he was ideal king. He obeyed the laws of Mosses. It took him a little bit to start changing thing up. It to 12 years so that would make him 20 when
He cleansed Judah and Jerusalem
He cleansed Judah and Jerusalem
Asherah poles, the carved images, and cast images. You might be wonder what where all this. the carved and cast images are easier to picture. We can see that this are small figurines that were made for worship but what about the asherah poles. Asherah poles where sacred monumet for the Canaanite goddess Asherah. So these poles where a way of worshiping her because se was associated with the tree of life. According to the Canaanite myths she was the mother of some 70 gods including that of Baal.
So you might be wondering why this was important for Josiah to destroy of of this. You see he wanted to bring the Israelites back to God and to stop worshiping the false gods of the time. Josiah was the only king to since David to get ride of all the idols. Most of the other kings only destroyed some of the idols.
He repaired the temple
He repaired the temple
The temple of God had fallen into disrepair. The people of Israel care more about there idols and false gods. Than that of the house of God. The place that God had dwelt in for the time of Moses.
Later on in verse 14 we see the book of the law was found again in the temple. You see they had all forgot what God had told them though Moses. They had not see this book for sometime. When Josiah heard what was wrighten he tore his clothes. He was heart broken for the people. So he brought this book before the people and read it out load to them. The people are all broke and turned back to God.
what can we learn for Josiah.
You need to get rid of your idols
You need to get rid of your idols
You might say that you do not have any so what takes up the most of your time. If this thing take time away for you spending time with God then its an idols. I’m not prefect when it come to this too. I can and do spend way to much time watching video on facebook or youtube. Does it take away for my time with God? It has before but God convicts me to come back to him.
What idols do you need to turn over to God?
What idols do you need to turn over to God?
What things do you need to destroy in order to let God move in your life? Where it be deleting Facebook or youtube for your phone. Canceling your tv. sealing your gaming system. What ever it might be. This morning ask God to show you what the idol is and allow him to take it from you.
There are many things that try to steal our attention and affection for God.
There are many things that try to steal our attention and affection for God.
The believer must be intentional to prioritize life in a way that honors the Lord and should repent for the ways we relegate God to the bottom of the list