2 Chronicles 34:3
“For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.”
One of the common themes in every election is the need for change. Normally each party tries to stress the importance of having a substantive change that will help their country. Yet, when a party wins, the change they seem to bring in is not the change for which they campaigned. I agree that change needs to happen in this world, but the change that needs to happen needs to be a real change.
When Josiah became king, he produced a real change in Judah that brought God's blessings on that nation. Though he was a young boy when he became king, we find that some steps were taken that produced this real change in his country. The steps that he took that produced a real change will still produce a real change in any life or nation if they will follow them.
The first step taken to produce a real change is a desire to seek God. The very first thing that started the process of change under Josiah was he personally began to seek God. We will never see a change in our life or nation until we are sincere about personally seeking God. The reason that seeking God is the first step to real change is because only God can produce real change. God doesn't just change the outside, He changes the inside first which results in the changing of the outside. If you want to see a real change, then you must seek God.
The second step to producing real change is purging sin. After seeking God, Josiah began to remove the idols in his land that caused the people to sin. Sin is the reason we are in our current condition. So, if we want change, then we need to get rid of the cause of our condition, which is sin.
Next, in order for real change to occur, bad influences must be removed. Josiah removed the bad influences of all false religions. We also must get rid of all the bad influences that are contributing to our problems. Whether these influences are friends or bad institutions, we will never see real change until bad influences are removed from our life and nation.
Next, in order to have real change, the importance of church must be re-established. Though there are many who do not like church, church has always been a part of a personal or national change. In our present society, church has been pushed aside and often is only attended when tragedy comes. Until we decide to make church important again, we will never see a substantive change that will last.
Last of all, real change will only happen when the Word of God is brought back and lifted up. A nation will never have real change without the Word of God. An individual will never have real change without the Word of God. God's Word produces a change because it purges our sin away.
Producing a real change in our life and society is very much needed. Our society will never change without us personally experiencing a real change. Follow the steps above and you will see your life begin to change for good. When you change, you will then begin to affect others which will result in changing our society.
To contact Evangelist Allen Domelle, send an email to contact@oldpathsjournal.com.
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