lead like josiah

The story of Josiah in II Kings 22 and 23 is pretty cool. This is a young leader (8 years old when he took office!) who led his followers into and through an intense process of spiritual renewal. When you get a few minutes, read the details of his life and accomplishments.

It all started when he gave orders to repair the temple of worship. I think this reflects a heart that understands the priority of putting God first. Too many of us, I believe, are willing to neglect the important details of our relationship with God. Not Josiah.

While the workers were deep into the renovations, they discovered a scroll which contained the Word of God. These documents had been missing for some time and the people were unaware of what they contained. You can imagine that they were excited to open them and see what God had to say. What they read was not pleasing or comforting, in fact, they were convicted by what they read as they realized that they had, through ignorance and neglect, been living in complete disobedience to God.

Josiah, being the strong leader that he was, led the way to a time of far-reaching repentance. These people were genuinely sorry for their sins.

Chapter 22 ends and chapter 23 begins with a spiritual cleansing of the entire land. Josiah again leads the way, this time in ridding the land of all of the false gods that the people had been worshipping. I would imagine that this move required a lot of courage. Keep in mind that this action makes him an agent of change because his father and many other former leaders had led the way into idol worship. Although he was young, he did not mind standing up for what was right and changing the direction of the nation.

I like Josiah and I like his leadership style. Identify what is a priority. When God responds to our commitment to do the right thing, listen to what He has to say. If/when he tells you something that you need to adjust, pay attention. Lead the way in repentance when necessary (and it is often necessary). Once this happens, lead again, in cleaning up your act. This may go against the flow and it may take real courage to turn things around, but do it.

Check out these accolades: II Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did-with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. (NIV)

Read about Josiah, study his style and be motivated to be the same kind of leader.