Recently we've heard politicians and pundits repeat the phrase "drain the swamp," which seems to be a figure of speech meant to communicate change or reform. I prefer the phrase "cleaning house." Maybe because I actually like to clean my house and I have never drained a swamp...so i don't really know what that entails.
Anyway back to my point...this morning I was reading in 2 Kings 22-23 about Josiah's rise to power as King of Judah, which wasn't much of a "rise to power" since he was eight years old when he became king. Yes you read that right - eight years old. I have a nine year old and I do not want to imagine what his kingdom would look like, but scripture says that Josiah "did what was right in the sight in the LORD and walked in all the ways of David his father..." (22:2)
Eighteen years into his 31 year reign Josiah decided to repair the temple and in doing so the law of God was discovered. Josiah read it and realized how far Judah had strayed from God's good commands so the "house cleaning/reformation" began. He tore down the altars to Baal and Asherah; he removed anything in his kingdom that was defiled by false worship; he re-instituted the Passover; and he did a bunch of other stuff too that you can read about in 2 Kings 23.
My thoughts: Do I need to clean my house? Are there idols that I need to tear down? Are there less than holy things in my life that are derailing my walk with Christ? Where am I veering to the left or to right that will lead me so far off course that in 30 years I won't even notice that God's Word is missing?
Am I more like Judah - content in my sin - or Josiah - cleaning house?
