Finding Profound Joy in an Amazing Place

When I was a boy, I attended church most Sundays with my family, but it wasn’t what we’d call a “Bible-teaching church.” The minister would solemnly read a passage from the Bible, but then he would basically preach whatever was on his mind. Sometimes it related to the passage; sometimes it didn’t. I don’t recall ever hearing him say the Bible is practical and relevant for everyday life. I had no idea that it was “living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword,” as it says in Hebrews 4:12.

 

Even into my early adult years, if you had asked me, I would have told you I thought the Bible was a manual for preachers, maybe someone with a seminary degree; certainly not for ordinary people. It didn’t help that the only edition of the Scriptures I knew of at the time was the King James Version, with lots of outdated language that made it difficult for me to understand.

 

When I was about 30, I took a job in suburban Houston, Texas and my family and I started attending a church where the Bible was taught and revered. Every Sunday the pastor would demonstrate the “unity of the Scriptures,” showing how different parts of the Bible could be used to “exposit” or explain what other passages meant.

 

There I was introduced to a modern translation of the Bible for the first time. Gone were the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and “begats.” The Lord, I discovered, spoke modern language. I was thrilled and overjoyed! This was the beginning of my life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, as I not only read and studied the Scriptures but also began committing verses to memory. As King David wrote in Psalm 119:11, "Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You." That’s what I wanted to do as well.

 

An Old Testament passage tells a story, brief but beautiful, about someone else who also had a sincere encounter with the Word of God for the first time. For many years the kings of Judah had acted and governed as if there was no God, doing “detestable things.” The Scriptures, as they were in those days, had been stashed away and forgotten for a long time.

 

Then came Josiah, the antithesis of his father Amon and grandfather Manasseh who had ruled wickedly, worshipping false gods and adopting the pagan practices of other peoples. Josiah was different. We’re told, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father [King] David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2).

 

We don’t exactly know why Josiah didn’t adopt the evil practices of his father and grandfather except that Amon was only 24 when he was assassinated and Josiah, just eight years old, was named to succeed him. Maybe boy King J hadn’t been around his father long enough to learn and mimic his sinful behavior.

 

When Josiah was 26, in the 18^th year of his reign, a special moment occurred. A high priest named Hilkiah found “the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord,” the sacred Scriptures (2 Kings 22:8). He gave them to the king’s secretary, Shaphan, who read them aloud to Josiah. 

 

His response was one of joy and grief at the same time: “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.” He told his aides, “'Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah…. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book…'” (2 Kings 22:11-13).

 

Josiah’s enthusiasm wasn’t temporary. He didn’t just listen to the Scriptures, then shrug his shoulders and say, “That’s nice. Now let’s get on with business.” Instead, with a humble heart he led a revival among the people of Judah, reaffirming the covenant God had made with them many years before.

 

He destroyed all the articles of worship to false gods, got rid of the pagan priests, and restored the sacred festivals and requirements God had established in the Book of the Law. We’re told, “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength…” (2 Kings 23:25).

 

Years ago, a good friend was discipling a young couple who had just come to faith in Christ. They’d never read the Bible before – didn’t even own a copy. So, my friend gave them a Bible and had them read 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

 

When the wife read those words, she exclaimed with joy and amazing insight, “Wow! God wrote a book!” 

The Bible, the Lord’s love letter to His children, should be a continuing source of joy for us as well as we seek to plumb its depth and experience its power. We’re not expected to “tear our robes” when we read it, but we should appreciate what an amazing and timeless gift from God it is. 

Considering the Impact of a Leader

Leaders like Booker T. Washington, Sojourner Truth and Harriet
Beecher Stowe were instrumental in bringing slavery to an end
and raising the status of African-Americans in society.

As the jockeying for position in the 2016 Presidential races continues to intensify, with some would-be candidates already bowing out, a lot of important questions are being asked. Everyone is claiming to possess the qualities needed for the top leadership role in the country, but would it be wise for us to consider the impact of a leader, either for good or bad?

Years ago I read Jim Collins’s excellent book, Good To Great, in which he discusses results of a comprehensive study about what made some companies great, compared to others that were merely good. Initially, Collins said he resolved to disregard the impact of top leadership, reasoning it’s too easy to assign praise to the CEO when an enterprise excels. However, he and his research team discovered that wasn’t possible. Leadership was a central factor in corporate greatness. Here’s what Collins wrote:

“We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the type of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one. Compared to high-profile leaders with big personalities who make headlines and become celebrities, the good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy – these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.”

History shows leaders like Benjamin Franklin
and Mark Twain, depicted at Walt Disney
World's EPCOT, have had great influence
in their respective fields of endeavor.

There were important factors other than what Collins termed “Level 5 Leadership,” but over the course of his work it became undeniable that the quality and character of top leaders became a major factor in a company’s success or failure. This is particularly interesting because in the Bible’s Old Testament, recounting events from thousand of years ago, this was also true. It’s not a new development.

Examples are too numerous to mention but a few, but Joseph stands out as a man of integrity whom God used in ways far beyond anything he could have imagined. Moses certainly was an unlikely choice for leader of the Israelites. In fact, he kept asking, “Uh, Lord, are you sure you’ve picked the right guy for this job?” But his effectiveness was unquestioned.

In the books of 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles we see a procession of kings whose character greatly influenced the people of Israel and Judah that they led. When good kings ruled, the people enjoyed peace and prosperity. When bad kings arose, the people descended into patterns of evil practice.

King Josiah seems particularly notable. His story is told in both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, opening with the statement, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2, 2 Chronicles 34:2).

Even in his earliest years as king, Josiah took decisive measures to purge the land of the false gods and idols the people of Judah had been worshiping. When he discovered how far they had drifted from following Jehovah God, the king tore his robes in a symbolic act of despair and remorse. He declared, “Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book” (2 Chronicles 34:21).

As a result, the Israelites followed Josiah’s example and re-established their sacred observances and thrived during his reign with God’s blessing. Following Josiah’s death, however, another evil king succeeded him and the people lapsed into their prior ungodly practices.

I’ve come to the conclusion that like a football coach who receives too much praise when his team wins and too much blame when it loses, sometimes the President of the United States is given too much credit for positive developments in the nation and the world, and too much criticism when things aren’t going well. There are too many variables at work, especially given the global nature of commerce, finance, and communications, for one person to exert sweeping control over the course of human events.

However, one thing all President can clearly do, given the extremely public and prominent nature of the office, is to affirm and emulate the values, principles and standards they believe that men, women and young people of the land should embrace.

So as we’re evaluating candidates and – hopefully – seeking to come to a well-reasoned, thorough appraisal of the candidates vying for our votes, it’s critical for us to recognize the impact of whomever we will elect. As well as the character of the candidates we consider.

And thinking about Collins’s discovery about what constituted the best, most effective corporate leaders, it might be well to consider this biblical admonition: “All of you, clothes yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).