Josiah's faithful obedience is seen in numerous ways. In the eighth year of his reign, "he began to seek after God" (2 Chronicles 34:3). He brought sweeping changes to Judah by purging the "high places" (here and here), idols, breaking down the altars of Baal, and burning the bones of the idolatrous priests (2 Chronicles 34:3-7). Additionally, he sought to repair the house of God (2 Kings 22:3-7). His faithfulness is also seen in his tender heart reaction to the Law of God when it was found (2 Kings 22:8,11-13) and his expression of godly sorrow over Judah's sins (2 Kings 22:19-20).
We ask, "How could Josiah remain faithful in the midst of such an evil society?" The answer is that he sought to know as much of God's will as he could (2 Kings 23:2), and he walked in the way of God by humbly obeying His commands and sharing God's word with others (2 Kings 23:3). Looking at Josiah's life of faithful obedience, we see a wonderful example of how we find favor with God. With a tender heart, we need to receive God's word and be obedient to it, just as Josiah did (2 Kings 22:19; Matthew 7:21).
We need to be filled with godly sorrow over our sins, humbly seeking to cleanse the evils and impurities of sin from our life (cf. Psalm 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; 1 John 1:9). Then we need to continually walk in the way of God by humbly obeying His commands (1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:3-5).
Knowing the value of God's word, we should have a great desire to share it with others (Acts 8:4). If we will have tender heart for God's truth, as Josiah did, we too will be pleasing to God and be rewarded by Him with an eternal inheritance in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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