Influence From Within - King Josiah

Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

2 Kings 23:25

Missionary John Geddie arrived on the island of Aneityum in 1848 and worked there for twenty-four years, making a huge impact for the Kingdom of God. After his death, a tablet erected in his memory read,

In memory of John Geddie, D.D., born in Scotland, 1815, minister in Prince Edward Island seven years, Missionary sent from Nova Scotia to Aneityum for twenty-four years. When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians here, and when he left in 1872 there were no heathen.

Josiah had the same kind of influence on the world around him. The Bible says that Josiah “did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right” (2 Kings 22:2).

When you look at Josiah’s background, not much appears to point toward greatness. His father and predecessor was Amon, a wicked king who helped drag Judah back into idolatry. For Josiah, it wasn’t a matter of where he came from but of where he was headed.

Josiah took the throne at age eight, following his father’s assassination. In the eighteenth year of his reign, he instructed the high priest, Hilkiah, to begin repairing the Temple, which had been damaged and badly neglected during the reigns of the previous two kings. And that was only the beginning.

After hearing a reading of the long-lost Book of the Law, the young king compared what he had heard with what he saw around him. Josiah knew that the time for change had come. He gathered the people together and led them in a renewal of their covenant with God.

Josiah influenced others for God because he followed the Lord with all his heart. Scripture remembers him as a man who “turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and strength” and as a man whose humility and heart for God led to changes in others.

Making a difference in the lives of people around you begins with changes within yourself. When those changes take place, you can’t help but influence others for the better.