I went to church tonight with a couple of my closest friends, Jessica and Warren Cheely (still weird to say). I’ve loved going to church with these two over the last couple of months and just working on developing a community here in Dallas. I’ve been a little hesitant getting involved in mega-churches, but I’ve felt comfortable tagging along with them and making somewhat of a home at Watermark. Honestly, I can be a little critical and the typical “New Years” service at churches, but I feel like I’m finally overcoming that mindset and enjoying gathering with other believers.
Tonight, the message was right on par with most churches all over the world in that it called for action. It was a challenge and a push to act on those good intentions that we want for this year, and also leave behind what was last year. I did find it interesting, though, the way it got there. Tonight, the focus was on the story of Josiah from 2 Kings.
Josiah came from a long line of strong kings, but unfortunately, the weren’t the most God-fearing or God focused leaders. The generations preceding Josiah, set up all types of foreign worship and gods that were in complete contradiction of how the kingdom of God was set up to be. In being open minded, these kings opened themselves up to deception and dissension and led their followers down a path to destruction. When King Josiah stepped in, it wasn’t just about making claims, but it was about taking some crazy steps.
I think a lot of us think at the beginning of the year about our goals for the year. We sit back and summarize the year we just completed and think about where we want to be this time next year. As we process through how we want to get there, a lot of resolutions come to mind. We want to workout 3 times a week, or cut down to 2000 carbs a day, or read through the Bible in a year, or whatever else comes to mind. But how long do those last?
Instead of thinking about what we want to accomplish, I think we need to focus on what breaks out hearts or makes them pound out of our chests. Josiah was only willing to let his kingdom continue down the same path, so he started making changes. He started removing things and got the ball moving on a tough process to bring his kingdom back to the right place. It wasn’t about conditioning someone to jump through hoops, it was about responding to an overflow of what was on his heart.
Rather than make resolutions this year, why not respond to what is resonating at your core? Don’t resolve to do something better, just respond to what’s calling you from the kingdom of God. At the end of Josiah’s year and life, he was described as a good king that followed the ways of God. I think that’s what I’ll shoot for this year…
