How Do You React to God's Word?

There cannot be more of a difference in reactions to God’s word than what we find with Josiah and his son, Jehoiakim.  In Jeremiah 36, Jehoiakim is given God’s word and his reaction is much less than desirable.  Rather than accepting the word of God as it was, Jehoiakim has an adverse reaction and not only rejects it, but physically destroys the scroll that it was written on by Baruch.  When Jehudi “had read three or four columns,” the king cut the scroll up with the scribe’s knife as though that will alter what the message was!

          While many people today do not necessarily cut up the word of God with a knife, how often do they (we) cut it up metaphorically? In other words, we find a passage that we do not like for whatever reason, and instead of altering our attitude to fit the passage as it is, we attempt to alter the passage to fit our desires.  Thus, a passage condemning sin no longer condemns sin, but promotes it in some way, shape, or form!  How often have you seen this done (ref. 2 Peter 3:15-17)? Many misconstrue the Scriptures and develop elaborate doctrines (mental gymnastics) that alter “thou shalt not” into “go ahead and do what you want.”  Sometimes, people may not even do these things consciously; meaning, they are not sitting there thinking consciously that they are twisting the Scriptures! They often get caught up in something that they WANT to participate in, and therefore they seek a way to make that deed allowable by God.  Perhaps the biggest threat to Christianity is when we so often try to cover the sins of a loved one by trying to explain away what they are doing as being “ok.”  Does this actually alter the word of God?

          On the other hand, Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, had a completely different reaction to the word of God! While we should avoid having the reaction that Jehoiakim had, we should strive to have a reaction like Josiah.  In 2 Kings 22, the word of God is discovered and read to King Josiah (note: 2 Kings 22:2 says that Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord).  Josiah is distraught that they had not been following the word of God (he is distraught to the point of tearing his clothing – 22:11).  Unlike Jehoiakim, Josiah allows the word of God to create change in his own life and in the life of those he ruled over.  Throughout 2 Kings 23, we are told of how many things Josiah did to rid Israel of idolatry, which included tearing down alters and idols! Josiah not only heard the word of God, but made it applicable to his own life!

          Let us strive to be more like Josiah than Jehoiakim when we hear the word of God.  When God’s word shows us sin in our lives, let us seek to remove that sin rather than excusing it! When the Bible calls something sin, we need to accept that deed as such and not try to explain it away! This is applicable for us as individuals, but it is also applicable for those that we love; just because someone we love is doing something does not make it right in the eyes of God, nor does any amount of our explaining it away change God’s mind! Work to be more like Josiah and rid our lives of sin!