When I was 9 years old, my parents got me and my brother guitars. We both took lessons, learned how to hold them, strum them, and even play some beginner-type songs.
But for my brother, it always seemed stiff, forced, and a little awkward. While for me, I just got it! I internalized it. I became devoted to spending more time learning and practicing. It became a part of me.
It’s the same with God. Some people connect with Him, while others just learn about Him. Some spend time with Him; practicing His principles until they become an internalized way of life. Others learn the routines and procedures, but God never becomes a natural part of their life. Consequently, they drop God, or they pull Him out occasionally…like the one song they know how to play in front of others.
In 2 Kings chapters 22-23, Josiah passionately desires to follow God and puts his whole self into doing it. He didn’t want to tinker with “music.” He had the heart of a “musician.”
Any musician knows that for the music to come “alive,’ you must completely commit to it. This is Josiah.
- His heart breaks when he realizes Judah is not what they should be. (2 Kings 22:11, 13)
- He commits to Judah becoming what God has called them to be. (2 Kings 23:3)
- He diligently changes things and practices life as God intended. (2 Kings 23:4-20)
- He turned to God with his heart, soul, and strength. (2 Kings 23:25)
Are you playing at knowing God? Are you satisfied knowing and doing just enough to technically say you have a connection with Him? Or are you yearning for and committed to the Living God, so that He becomes a part of you…like the music that wells up from within the musician?
