2 Kings 22-23, 1 Timothy 1:18

Steve Gambill

Do the names Nemisis, Air, Ripsaw and Oblivion mean anything to you? These are all thrill rides at the great British theme park Alton Towers.

Recently, when reading 2 Kings chapter 22 about Josiah who became King at 8 years old...I remembered an experience I had at Alton Towers. My wife Charl and I had just finished riding 'Nemesis', (we had queued for an hour to ride this rollercoaster that lasted just over 30 seconds), when my wife Charlotte wanted me to go on another ride.

What I need to explain is that I can ride anything that moves forward or backwards, regardless of the speed. But if the ride spins it makes me feel sick. The ride was called Enterprise. And it was a spinner. The ride was like a big wheel with lots of spinning cages attached to it that did somersault after somersault. As soon as I saw the cages spin I started backing out of the queue...until I saw this little boy who looked about 8. He was laughing, talking about how he had ridden Enterprise before. This kid looked like he owned the place. What stood out to me was his lack of fear and total confidence. I thought if a little kid can ride this surely I could.

So, like any man would do, I stepped up and boldly got on the ride. After the first loop I was ready to get sick! It went downhill fast from there and it won't take much imagination to guess what happened next. That's right I lost my gourmet theme park food! When the ride finished and I had recovered, I couldn't stop thinking about that little kid. He was so confident and despite his young age he so easily did what I couldn't.

Back to 2 Kings 22...that Alton Towers experience flashed through my mind as I read how old Josiah was when he became King. The Kid who rode the Enterprise must have been about the same age as Josiah when he was set in his Kingship. How did Josiah rule a nation and turn to God with all his heart soul and strength when so many other Kings failed?

From Josiah's life I will pull out three principles to answer that and to help us in our journey.

Read Like A King

From the start of Josiah's reign he lived a godly life. As a child and teenager he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but he didn't start to change his culture and influence people for God until the 18th year of his reign. He was 26 years old before he found his stride as King. So what caused him to begin to reach out? That secret is found in verse 8. One of his team found the book of the Law...and began to read it to him. Up until that time Josiah was ignorant of the word of God.

As a teenager a youth leader gave me some good advice. He said, "if you want to lead, read." Over the years I have found that if I read in the right frame of mind, I get so much more out of the Bible. What I want to highlight from Josiah is the way a King reads. If you are a King, you choose your best location to recline and relax so that you can focus on what you are reading. In other words preparation precedes your reading.

Josiah had Shaphan the secretary not just any boffin read to him. Shapan was a professional and must have had skill in reading and writing. Before the days of laptops and texting the secretarial Shapan was the best the nation had.

I have spoken to many young people who don't think about the preparation that precedes their reading of the Bible. They will sit in a room full of distractions and as a result are not able to concentrate. Creating an environment for concentration is a vital but often neglected discipline. For years we have encouraged our young people at Abundant Life to create their own space to read God's word. Here are some of the tips that we would teach.

• Find a quiet place


• Switch off your cellphone


• Put on reflective worship music or chilled background music


• Start off by thanking God for all the good things and people in your life


• Pray in the Holy Spirit


• Use your imagination in your reading by putting yourself in the story

Check out the reaction of Josiah to God's word...he tears his clothes and orders all his key staff to mobilize immediately. Hilikiah, Ahikam, Acbor, Shapahan and Asaiah all kick into action and the cultural reform kicks in. As Josiah heard the word for the first time he took action. Action that put Gods word into practice.

Reign Like A King

By the time Josiah had heard Gods word he had reigned 18 years and although he personally followed God the nation was in a mess. Economically, educationally and morally, the nation was in turmoil. Josiah had lived like a King but had failed to reign like a King.