It takes a while for me to get in the mood to clean out closets or reorganize what has been thrown into the attic or garage; but when I get in the “get it done” frame of mind it is always illuminating and gives me peace when all is neatly organized and a new space is created by throwing out what is no longer needed or does not belong in our lives any longer. 

But what also happens when remodeling or reorganizing is finding items you had long forgotten.  The last time we remodeled I found items I formerly cherished and displayed because they were given to me by those who loved me well. Those items were dusted and cleaned and brought out once more to be seen in the light of day!  Rediscovering precious gifts are like finding new treasures!  How many times have we said, “I didn’t know I still had that!” 

The rule of thumb for most of today’s reorganizers is: “If it gives you joy, make a place for it. If it no longer gives you joy and you cannot reason why you have it; throw it out!

What if what you find when remodeling is so great a treasure that it is used to cause a great revival of an entire nation?  Wait, what?! 

Josiah, who became king at the tender age of eight, loved and obeyed God with undivided devotion. In the eighteenth year of his reign, this young adult decided to remodel the much need in repair Temple. While repairing the formerly neglected temple, God’s Word was found. What a treasure!  The Word of God had hidden in the rubble and neglected for many decades of decadent kings who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 

Josiah was different.  He not only “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord;” Josiah followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

For a man like Josiah to discover God’s Word that was formerly hidden was the same as unearthing a long lost, priceless treasure!  He cherished this treasure found and used God’s Word to bring drastic changes to the nation’s lifestyle. God used one man to bring a revival to an entire nation!

2 Kings 22

The Book of the Law Found

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

³ In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. ⁵ Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— ⁶ the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. ⁷ But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. ¹² He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: ¹³“Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

¹⁴ Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

¹⁵ She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ ¹⁸ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: ¹⁹ 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 a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God alone is to be worshiped.  God’s Word is to be heard, read, studied, and written on our hearts permanently.  God’s Law and the Fulfillment of His Law is His Story of Redemption, fulfilled by Jesus, His Son. God’s Word, in a sense, is the biography of Jesus!  God/Jesus/Holy Spirit—Three-In-One loves us and wants God’s best for us.

God is the One and Only who can save us from our sins. God had a plan from the beginning to remove mankind’s sins that block our view of God and our relationship with God.  God’s Word is given to us to tell us who He is, who Jesus is, what He has done to save us, and teaches us all that He requires of His created to live an abundant life with Him. 

We need God. We need to know God.  We need to learn how He works so we discover and imitate His character and habits; so that we may become more like Him.  But we cannot do this without His help. God delivers us from evil daily when we ask; because He gave us what we need most—Jesus who died to remove our sins.

It is God who provides His loving forgiveness and follows up by cleansing our hearts, renewing our minds, remodeling our lifestyles, with reshaping and remolding our souls to be holy before Him. All this happens through the gift of God’s Holy Spirit who comes to live in us to consistently restore His eternal joy with His peace as His work is accomplished in us!  

We are different, like Josiah, because we love God back, receive his gifts as treasures found, and follow His ways.  We desire to be holy and do what is right in the eyes of our Lord!  We can only do this because of Jesus who redeemed us from our sins!

Just like Josiah, we cannot control the way our forefathers responded to God. But we can control the way we respond to God. We have a say in our lives as God gave humans the gift of free will to choose. We have a choice.  We can choose to walk humbly with God and all that is good and gives life eternal or we can choose evil that leads to death. Choose well and someday—generations from now—your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank God for the seeds you sowed.

What is the treasure that we seek?

(The quick answer is reflected in our bank accounts and lifestyles.)

Pause now, reflect on the treasures we work hard to acquire. Talk with God, read His Word, then listen. There will always be some remodeling projects in our future! God longs to walk and talk with us. God delights in all the details of all the lives of the world He chose to die for and forgive because He loves us greatly and faithfully.  His love never changes, quits, or gives up. 

God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is the treasure that we seek! 

God’s Word unearths the Truth we long for in our lives!

Oh Lord,

You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
I’m seeking You like a precious jewel, Lord, to give up I’d be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God, Holy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God, Holy is Your name

Taking my cross my sin my shame, Raising again I praise Your name
You are my all in all

When I fall down, you pick me up, When I run dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all…  (You are My All in All, written by Denise Jernigan)

Thank you, thank you, thank you…forever!

In Jesus Name, Amen