Support Ministry

The saying, “Like father like son,“ was certainly not true of Josiah and Jehoiakim, two kings of Judah. While Josiah, the father, was a godly king who ruled the land with justice, Jehoiakim, the son, served primarily himself, building a magnificent palace at a time when the kingdom was impoverished by war and in debt to Egypt.

The prophet Jeremiah reminded Jehoiakim that “a beautiful palace does not make a great king” (Jer 22:15 NLT) and that the reason his father Josiah had reigned so long (over 30 years) was because “he defended the cause of the poor and needy” (vs. 16 TNIV). Through Jeremiah the Lord asks, “Isn’t that what it means to know me? (vs. 16)”

Many devout and serious believers have expressed their desire to know God better. The picture is often one of a mystic somewhat cut off from others and spending long periods of time in spiritual contemplation. I am sure that some are called to live that way but I seriously question the assumption that that is what it means to know God. Josiah was “just and right in all his dealings” and God clearly indicates that that is what it means to know him. Authentic Christianity is doing not feeling.

Christian virtues such as love, kindness, gentleness do not exist apart from their actual expression in real acts in the real world. To know God is less a mystical experience as it is living a life centered on the welfare of others. It is by living as God lives that we come to know who he really is. Want to know him better? Be a Josiah not a Jehoiakim

"Bob Mounce"