2 Chronicles 34 | Wayfarer

While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord given through Moses.
2 Chronicles 34:14 (NRSVCE)

I was just 14 years old when I decided to become a follower of Jesus. The first thing I did after making that decision was to begin reading the Living Bible that I’d received for my confirmation a few years before with it’s puke green, imitation leather cover. I’d learned about the Bible all my life. I’d read verses from it, but I’d never really read it. Somehow I knew as I launched out on my faith journey that I had to read the Book for real.

A short time later I had an after school job and my boss asked if I’d like to do a Bible study together. I jumped at the chance. Every Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. we met together in his office. One of the first things he had me do was memorize Joshua 1:8:

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. (FYI, I typed this from memory. It’s still in there!)

That first memorized verse set the course for me spiritually. I have been journeying through God’s Message ever since. The Book is the source material of faith. I have read it through in a year. I’ve read it in different translations and paraphrases. I have studied it academically. I have studied it alone and in groups. I have memorized parts of it. I keep plumbing the depths, discovering new layers, and finding new meaning as I make my way through it again and again from altogether different waypoints in my own Life journey. (And, I continue to read it with those few brave souls who follow along here a chapter a day!)

In today’s chapter we are nearing the end of the Chronicler’s historical summary of the Kings of Judah. Mannaseh had reigned for fifty-five years and the nation had fallen back into its idolatrous ways. Now young Josiah becomes King and leads the people in a revival back to the God of their ancestors. First, he gets rid of all the idols in the land, then he begins a restoration campaign of the Temple of Solomon. This was not a quick process. The restoration of the Temple began 18 years into Josiah’s reign. During the restoration they discovered the Book of the Law (what we would know today as Genesis through Deuteronomy). In other words, the source material of the Hebrew faith had been lost and forgotten for years. They didn’t even know where it was, let alone did they remember what was in it!

How long had they been stumbling along without the source material of their faith? What were they relying on to inform them, encourage them, and instruct them? Oral tradition? The memory of old priests? How did they know they were living in accordance with God’s Law if they didn’t even have a copy of the Law to reference? The discovery of the Book of the Law was huge, as we’ll find out in the final few chapters of Chronicles.

This morning I’m thinking about my never-ending journey through the Book and the Great Story. How different my journey would be without this Source of wisdom, history, instruction, inspiration, encouragement, admonishment, and insight. I’m so thankful I took Joshua 1:8 to heart. I’m so grateful that I’ve not had to fly blind in my faith journey, that I’ve had the Book as my Source material.

Thanks for reading along with me.

When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. 2 Chronicles 34:19 (MSG)

My daughter, Madison, called me the other week. She’d been asked by a friend to discuss what she believed about death. She certainly had some strong convictions about what happens when you die, but when she went to God’s Message to support her presuppositions, she was both surprised and challenged. She had difficulty backing up some of the notions she held with scriptural evidence.

There is no substitute for reading God’s Message yourself. It’s one of the reasons my friend Kevin and I started this chapter-a-day journey several years ago. It’s one thing to hear others talk about what the Bible says, but it’s another thing to step in and personally read it, study it, and meditate on it.

I suggested some passages of God’s Message for Madison to read. As we talked, she was prompted to do some further study on a couple of key concepts about death. As a father, I was quietly delighted to listen to her and observe the process. She’s stepping out, digging in, and through it God is refining her faith.

People have told me that they read and appreciate what I write about each chapter, and I’m humbled to know that others value my thoughts. For the record, however, my thoughts are not what the chapter-a-day journey is about. Chapter-a-day is about reading God’s Message yourself, letting God speak to you through His Word, and personally responding to it. Just like Josiah in today’s chapter, it’s our own personal interaction with God’s Message that makes a real difference.

Each chapter-a-day post contains a link to the entire chapter. I encourage you to start clicking on it, reading the chapter yourself, and sharing what spoke to you, encouraged you, challenged you, or what it made you think about. Share it with a friend. Share it in a comment to each day’s post. I’d love to know your thoughts.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and jliba