Influence

Well, it's taken longer than I expected due to a modem issue but I'm back now and ready to finally finish the other lesson I mentioned in my last post.  This time it's about influence and how it affects the people around us. If you'll remember, King Josiah came from a legacy of men that did evil in the sight of the Lord yet he chose to follow in the footsteps of David instead and follow God.

Once the Book of the Law was found King Josiah heard what it said he was convicted and tore his robes. He realized that God was angry that those before him had not respected and obeyed God's Law. However, it says:
"Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place." 2 Kings 22:19-20

So King Josiah gathered all the people so that they could hear the Book of the Law and he publicly renewed the covenant with the Lord and the bible says, "Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant." ALL the people...wow.

In this story one person, King Josiah, changed the course of his people by his obedience to God. There are lots of other stories in the bible of influence, both good and bad. So what's my story? How can my obedience or disobedience affect those under my influence?

Who are you influencing today?
We may not have the influence of a king but we influence those around us just the same. We influence our children, spouse, friends, social media followers, and other people we interact with from day to day even without realizing it.

What kind of influence do you want to be?

Respecting God's Word

This week I've been reading 2 Kings 22-23. It tells the story of King Josiah, who unlike his evil father and grandfather before him, followed in the footsteps of David and worshipped the Lord.

During the previous kings' reign, idol worshipping and human sacrifice had become the way of the land and God's Word was lost as it had become irrelevant to the people who turned to other things for fulfillment. When Josiah had the temple repaired they found the Book of Law and brought it to him. He heard the words of the Lord and was filled with remorse and repentance so he gathered all the people together and read to them the Book of the Law and renewed the covenant to follow God and the people did the same.

I was reading this bible passage to prepare for my Sunday school lesson on respecting God's Word but there is another important lesson that I got from it that I'll talk about tomorrow (Lord willing!). When we don't respect His Word it becomes unimportant to us and can become lost both physically and mentally when we need it most. Just like we have to move daily to protect our muscles from atrophy, we need to spend time in the bible to prevent our faith from doing the same. Spending time daily reading the bible has made such a huge difference in how I speak, act, respond and think about the things that happen in my daily life. I find myself referencing scriptures as I go about my day, when talking to friends or even while reading the paper or watching TV. It's pretty amazing how it's woven into every part of my life now and I am so grateful for it.

Another part of respecting God's Word, and sometimes the most challenging part for me, is to do what it says!  John 15:14 says, "You are my friends if you do what I command." and James 1:22 says, "Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.". I named this blog from that verse because in doing so I hope to challenge myself, my family and anyone that may read this blog to put feet to their faith and live out what we have learned from God's Word as our act of obedience. Not that we have to earn our salvation (we don't), but as an outpouring of the love we have for God and from God.

My prayer today is to respect God's Word, to read and obey what it says.

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