When we brought our adoptive soon home from over seas, I was eager to shower him with love and provide what he had lacked over the preceding months, especially quality food, since he had a nutritional deficit. But despite our best efforts, including consulting specialists, he grew very little. After nearly three years, we learned he had some severe food intolerances. After removing those items from his diet, he grew five inches in just a few months. While I grieved at how long I'd unwittingly fed him foods that impaired his growth, I rejoiced at this surgery in his health!
I suspect Josiah felt similarly when the Book of the Law was discovered after having been lost in the temple for years. Just as I grieved having unintentionally hindered my son's growth, Josiah grieved having ignorantly missed God's fullest and best intentions for His people. Although he is commended for doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord, he learned better how to honor God after finding the Law. With his newfound knowledge, he led the people to worship again as God had instructed them.
As we learn through the Bible how to honor Him, we may grieved the ways we've fallen short of God's will for us. Yet we can be comforted that He heals and restores us, and leads us gentle into deeper understanding.
Thank You, God, for showing me how to live in a way that pleases You. I'm sorry for the ways I've not done that in the past. Help me to honor and obey You now.
God gives us a new start.
No comments:
Post a Comment