King Josiah’s Christmas Tree
Good Morning Friends,
When one looks at the genealogy of King Josiah his father and grandfather were pretty evil dudes. But back a few more generations and guess what? This young boy was related to King David….and that means he was related to Jesus. Maybe you can see some to the family resemblance…maybe you can recognize that Josiah had some good root stock. In light of the season today we explore King Josiah’s Christmas Tree.
Scripture: Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and the cast images.
2 Chronicles 34:1-3
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
Isaiah 11:1-5 (NRSV)
The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it.
Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers who have oversight of the house of the Lord.”
Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.
When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.
2 Kings 22:8-11 (NRSV)
Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.
2 Kings 23:25 (NRSV)
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Galatians 4:4 (NRSV)
Message: In your homes, many of you have beautiful Christmas trees decorated with lights, ornaments and garland. (I have given up on the tinsel. Maybe you use tinsel and that’s alright as long as I do not have to clean it up). At the Lawson’s we have four trees this year. But those trees are either dead or artificial. And when the season passes, they will be taken down for recycling or thrown away or stored in boxes back up in our attic or garage. But there is another tree – a living tree. And this is the one you want in your home at Christmas. Because this tree, this Jesus of Nazareth tree is someone you’ll never want to throw out or store away in a box. This Tree, this Word is timeless and will change your life just as He did to Josiah. I do hope you see Jesus at work in the Old Testament as well as the New and more importantly even today through His Spirit. The reality is that God has a plan for you and he has a plan for me and the reality is that we have been born for such a time as this. Our spiritual DNA has the information we need but, for revival, it just might need to be activated as it did in the life of Josiah as God reveals Himself through His Word. Friends read scripture this Christmas, and remember your roots.
Pray for revival. Pray for renewal and reconciliation. Pray rejoicing in the hope of a little child who would lead them. Pray rejoicing that we too can join in His story on this Saturday before Christmas 2013. Pray we understand the nature of our roots. Pray we rejoice in the unique plans God has for each of us. Pray we understand the power of Christ’s Tree.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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