This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says:  I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read.  Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’  Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, concerning the words you heard:  Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people-that they would become a curse and be laid to waste-and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.  Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace.  Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.  2 Kings 22:16-20 NIV

The king of Judah that is in this scripture passage is Josiah.  Josiah became king at the tender age of 8.  Can you imagine an 8 year old becoming king?  But this 8 year old feared the Lord and did what was right in God’s eyes.  He had some of his people prepare to bring the money into the temple and do some work on the temple.  In this process they found the Book of the Law.  When they found this book it saddened and angered Josiah because he realized that those that had gone before him had not obeyed the words in the book and that the Lord would be angered by this. He sent someone to speak to the Lord on his behalf and the scripture passage that you just read is the Lord’s response.  When I read it, I thought wow! This is something that happened thousands of years ago, but could be describing our nation today.

The Lord tells this woman that was sent by King Josiah that He is going to bring disaster on this place and its people.  How many natural disasters has our country seen in the last few months?  The reason He gives is because the people have forsaken Him.  They have been burning incense to (or honoring or worshiping) other gods.  They have aroused his anger by worshiping the idols that their hands have made.

It is my hope that before God gets so angry that he destroys our nation, that I have found enough favor in His eyes for Him to lift me out of here whether it is by rapture or by death.  He promised Josiah that He would spare him and bring him home to his ancestors so that he could escape the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem.  Josiah died at the age of 39 years old.  From the time Josiah found the book of the Law until his death, he removed the things that displeased the Lord and did what God instructed him to do.

We talked yesterday about how we serve a God that is prone to anger and great wrath.  We need to realize that we serve a jealous God.  In Exodus 20:1-4, when God gives Moses the ten commandments, He begins with I am the Lord your God..You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

God doesn’t mince words here.  He expects us to put Him first.  Are you doing that today?  Sadly our nation seems to not be doing that today as a whole.  Here there was an 8 year old king who had the sense to honor God, yet our leaders in Washington sit around like a bunch of kindergarten kids fighting on the play ground.  Everyone wants it their way and we the people suffer.  A politician with a skeleton in his closet is the norm. They line their pockets with our tax dollars and all we get is a front row seat to a show where there is nothing but bickering and back biting. We are in shock and awe of those that seem to be God fearing Christians.  I think that some people are so shocked by this that they are afraid to vote for them.  Often times when my friend and I are discussing what’s going on in the world around us, she will just look at me and say, “Isaiah 5:20”.   Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.  I try not to listen to the news, but if you do listen, it certainly fits Isaiah 5:20.

If we look at the world and are saddened by what is going on, what must God feel?  God created this world to be a sort of heaven on earth for its inhabitants.  Adam and Eve sinned and ruined that.  They were thrown out of the Garden of Eden and into this cold, cruel world.  When God realized that people would always sin, He sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ to die a horrible, humiliating death to save us of our sins and this is how we show our appreciation?

So today, I want to ask you to take a few minutes and do a little self-assessment.  What is first in your life?  Where does your time and your money go?  The Bible tells us to seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and all other things will be added to you.

The first 10 per cent of our income should be returned to God.  Are you tithing?  Are you going to church?  Does Sunday roll around and you find that you are just too tired from all the activity of the weekend to get to church?  What are you worshiping?  Are you putting your social life ahead of God?  Do you skip church so you can take your nice, new boat out on the river?  Are you worshiping an idol made of human hands?  Are you putting this above God?  I know that some of you read my blog from facebook and I thank you for doing so, but are you spending more time on facebook than in the good Book?  Take a look at the things that get your time, money, and attention.  These are the things that you are truly worshiping.  If these things are not lined up with the kingdom of God then you may need to rethink your priorities.

We serve a jealous God.  He clearly tells us in the ten commandments that we are to have no other Gods before Him.  Anything that gets in the way of us reading our Bible, spending time in prayer and honoring Him is another god.  It is something that we are worshiping.  Now I know that we have jobs and families and that we will not spend every second of every day reading our Bible or praying and this is not what God is asking us to do.  But we should set aside some time every day even if it is only 15 minutes.  Get up 15 minutes early and give God the first 15 of your day or even the first 5 minutes of your day.  This makes it easier to go through your day honoring Him and not angering Him. We anger God when we don’t put Him first.  We anger God when we use His name in vain, which by the way is the 3rd commandment.  We anger God when we don’t keep the sabbath holy which is the 4th commandment.  We honor God when we live as a shining example of His son, Jesus Christ.  We honor Him when we do the things that He has instructed us to do and we refrain from doing the things that He has clearly told us not to do.

So today, I  encourage you to put God first.  It’s not that God doesn’t want you to have fun and enjoy the fruit of your labor.  He just wants you to put Him first.  I promise you that if you begin to live this way, you won’t regret it!

Have a great day!