Scripture Passage
Scripture Focus
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 NLT)
Observation
Commendation doesn’t get much stronger than that, does it?
One thing I love is that Josiah is commended for loving the Lord in all the ways the covenant called for—heart, soul, and strength (compare Deut 6:4). That’s whole-hearted love. Well, I guess it’s even more than that—it’s whole-soul and whole-strength love, too!
The thing is, Josiah’s love was more than “emotional”—the love of the heart; and more than “spiritual”—the love of the soul; and more than “physical”—the love of the strength. It was more than any of those things because it was all of those things at once!
Some people love God with great emotion, but don’t seem to experience a transformative spiritual connection. Some people profess (accurately, I believe) to love God with the soul, but you’d never know it from any expression of emotion. (Yes, I know that emotions offer no definitive measure of spirituality—but God did create emotions as part of who we are. They ought to show up sometime!) And some serve effectively—even sacrificially—with their labors (strength), but somehow so sacrificially that a guy could wonder if they’ve not tasted that redemptive “soul-work” that allows a person to “rest in the Lord”—if they know for sure that “it is by grace you have been saved…not by works, so that no man can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).
I’m not saying by any measure that I’ve figured this out while others haven’t—not at all. I'm defining how I want to love. I’m saying Josiah had it figured out, and I want to live it the way Josiah lived it! I want to love God in every possible way…no, more than that, in all possible ways!
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