Have you ever loss something important and went to great lengths to find it, only to discover that it was in the most surprising place—right under your nose. Consider this careless person who lost her purse at a resort hotel. She went to the lost and found department. Here’s their exchange:
Customer: “Have you had a brown purse turned in to your lost and found?”
Attendant: “Give me just one second and I’ll go back and see about that for you!”
Customer: “Can you make it quick? I really don’t have the time.”
Manager: (A manager sees what’s going on and comes over.) “Ma’am, could you give us a better description of the purse?”
Customer: “It’s brown, one strap. It’s a Coach. It has an iPhone, a wallet!”
Manager: “Does it resemble the purse hanging off your shoulder?”
Customer: “You planted it on me while I wasn’t looking! You were going to steal it.
It’s easy to blame someone else, but when the loss is so close to home, the only person to blame is self. This is never truer, than when it comes to your spiritual soundness. You are responsible. This was the case with Judah who loss the word of God, in all places, the house of God. Lost your fire? Look closer to home. Ask yourself: How did this happen and where do you go to find what you lost?
First, ask yourself: How did I lose the word of God. It happened in 2 Kings 22-23. Here is the backstory. Young King Josiah began a building renovation of the physical house of God. Money was allocated. Plans were made: new carpet, windows, doors. People were assigned duties. One of the cleanup crew found dusty scrolls tucked in a corner. He took them to the priest who took them to PR department who gave them to the King to read them. OMG!
10Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 2 Kings 22: 10
What caused this neglect of the word of God: spiritual compromise and convenience. It started with King Jeroboam, the first king of the ten northern tribes after the unified Israel of King David split. Jeroboam introduced the worship of other gods, and the change of worship location that suited conveniences over centrality. The net effect of these actions, known as the sin of Jeroboam, was the corruption of the relationship of the people of God with the only true God, to include neglect of the word of God. They lost the fire. What spiritual compromises and worldly conveniences have corrupted your church and personal relationship with God causing you to lose the word in the church, right from under your nose?
Secondly, how do rediscover that which was spiritually lost right from under your nose? With a humble and repentant heart, Josiah rekindled his relationship with God. After young King Josiah read the word of God that his ancestors abandon, he prayed to God who heard him and restored him.
19because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD … 20… I will gather you to your fathers…in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place." 2 Kings 21:19-20
Though Judah would not escape God’s judgment because of their neglect of God’s word, Josiah found peace with God and made a covenant with God to:
3The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all [his] heart and all [his] soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into covenant.“2 Kings 23:3
This recommitment led to spiritual reform and renewal for Judah. If you don’t like the way your church and your personal relationship with God is going, commit to what was loss right under your nose—the word of God in the house of God. For that you will have to invest more in the New Testament imperative:
Be diligent (study) to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Tim, 2:15.
You are responsible.
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