2 Kings 23

And the king sent. And they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of Jehovah. And all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, from the small even to the great. And he read all the Words of the Book of the covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah in their ears. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the Words of this covenant which was written in this Book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

(2Ki 23:1-3)

Revival hits the land of Israel, and it is a revival indeed! Idols are rooted out, the temple is cleansed, hearts are turned, ALL THINGS ARE MADE NEW. How did it happen? What were the key ingredients? When we look here we see that the first and most important thing was the WORD OF GOD. Josiah, our young king, called for all the people to gather together, and the word of God was read to them. But it didn’t stop with just reading. Josiah himself stood up, and made a proclamation to the people… in essence he said; “I’m not just going to read this book, and say that it sounds good, and then go on living my life in the same way… No; I’m going to be a doer of God’s Word. I am going to follow the Lord… I am going to cherish and obey His COMMANDS, His TESTIMOINES, and His STATUTES, with all of my HEART and all of my SOUL. I am going to LIVE the Word of God.” When the people heard their king speak this way, proclaiming God as the LORD and KING of his life, they responded with a hearty desire to do the same… In one day the whole nation experienced an about face, a 180° turn.

You may not be a king, but I guarantee that you wield some sort of influence. You may not have a nation under your leadership, but you probably have younger brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors, classmates who are all looking for someone to take the lead; someone to demonstrate what it means to walk with God. What will you do? I challenge you to take God’s Word and give it a place of authority in your life. Let them know that you aren’t going to just read it like a divine story book with some good moral applications, but that you plan to LIVE IT. Don’t be afraid to tell people that the Bible is your source for direction and instruction; the place you turn to for the solution to even the most difficult problems. If you want to see revival in your life, in your friendships, in your family… then take God’s Word and LIVE IT.