He Chose Wisely

Looks like this is the end

14555. Best Leave Rock On Snake's Back

The poor calf removed the rock and they went on together. "Now I am going to bite you," said the snake. "But you promised not to," the poor calf said. "I know, but it is my nature to bite and I cannot help it."

They met a fox just then and the calf asked him to settle the dispute. He would not, unless he could see how the rock was placed on the snake.

Then the fox turned to the calf and said, "Now that the rock is on his back I think it is safest to leave it there."

Wisdom comes with experience we know this and yet some people never seem to get it.’

1 Kings 22:8 HCSB

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can ask Yahweh, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king shouldn’t say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

Ahab’s had Yes Men in his life prophets who told him what he wanted to hear. I love this verse.

1 Kings 22:18 HCSB

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster?”

2 Kings 22:18 HCSB

Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord: This is what the Lord God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,

Ahab’s life of folly is winding down, in fact this is the last prophesy he will here. But in that ending there was a chance for something great.

Excuses are the enemy of moving forward wisely!

Just the facts…

Josiah came from a long line of very bad kings…(I can’t help it, it’s genetics)

Josiah was just a kid when he became King….(I don’t really know any better I’m just a kid)

The people were happy with the way things were and used to doing it their own way. (why rock the boat)

So how do we beat the past and move forward with wisdom and integrity?

Surround yourself with Wisdom!

A large rock fell on the back of a snake one day, says an old fable. The snake called to a calf who was passing to remove it, but he refused. "If I take it off, you will bite me," he said. "No," replied the snake, "I will promise not to bite."

The poor calf removed the rock and they went on together. "Now I am going to bite you," said the snake. "But you promised not to," the poor calf said. "I know, but it is my nature to bite and I cannot help it."

They met a fox just then and the calf asked him to settle the dispute. He would not, unless he could see how the rock was placed on the snake.

Then the fox turned to the calf and said, "Now that the rock is on his back I think it is safest to leave it there."

Wisdom comes with experience we know this and yet some people never seem to get it.’

 Ahab was not a good king, in fact Ahab and his wife Jezabelle are notroius for being evil.  One of his problems was that the surrounded himself with people who would tell him what he wanted to hear.  He surrounded himself with yes men, and it cost him his life.  Not a lot of wisdom…

Josiah was only 8 when he became King,  It was necessary that he have solid advisors during the early years of his reign but there did come a day when he began to make decisions for himself.  What was important for Josiah in his formative years was the people who counseled him, the ones that knew what to do, knew how to walk, knew what God wanted out of the people.  Josiah was advised by Godly men when he was young and he kept those Godly men around as he began to make decisions on his own.  This is not always an easy thing to do. Humanity works from the time it is born to be taken seriously, to be free to make their own decisions.  

Don’t just hear, listen!

2 Kings 22:11 HCSB

When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

When the Book of the Law was found Josiah had it read and it effected him deeply.  Josiah hears the words and they effect him deeply.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is accept the truth when we hear it, that doesn’t make it any less true.  It’s easy to try and ignore the truth, to try and harden our hearts and minds to it so that we don’t have to let it work in our lives.  Wisdom while an awesome thing, many times will bring discomfort.  It makes us look at things in a different way many times it makes us see things that need to be different, in our lives, our families, and our world.  When we begin to let wisdom work into every corner of our lives when we take it to heart and seek solutions to the things we are understanding and feeling then God can begin to work in us in ways that we could only dream of.

A young man once stood on a street corner, opened his coat, and cried, “Look at my heart, look at my perfect, perfect heart.” A crowd soon gathered, impressed by his perfect heart. They stood in awe of a heart without blemish, perfect and complete in every way.

Soon an old man walked by and paused to see what the commotion was all about. When he heard the young man proudly crying “Look at my perfect heart” the old man pushed his way to the front to get a closer look. And when he saw the young man’s heart he scolded him. “Son, that’s not a perfect heart. If you want to see a perfect heart you need to see mine.” With that the old man opened his coat to reveal and old, knotted and ugly heart. It was full of bumps and holes, and pieces of it had broken off here and there.

The crowd began to laugh, but the old man raised his hand and began to speak. “See this bump” he said, “That’s when I me my first love. Oh, how the sun shone that day, how bright the colors of the universe were, how sweet the swinging of the birds in the trees. What a wonderful moment it was…Ah, but see this hole, that’s when my first love and I broke up. How it pained me, and pains me still. But the hole once ran much deeper. The years have managed to fill it in a lot…See this bump, that’s when I met the woman who became my life partner. Oh, what a wonderful life we had – year after year of shared companionship, of laughter, tears and joy. This scratch here is when we had a blazing row that threatened to end our marriage – but we made up and moved on…Over here, this place where a piece of my heart has been broken off, this is when she passed away. Oh the ache – yes it still aches even today, for she took a part of my heart to the grave with her, but I trust she will return it to me someday…Ah, but here’s another great bump. This was when we began our family. You’ll notice the hole beside it. That’s when we learned we could not bear our own children. How hard it was to accept, how painful to live with. But the bump is when we got our adopted daughter – our very own beautiful little girl to raise as our own. And yes, there are scratches and indentations surrounding the bump – the times we fought and yelled. But always we learned to forgive, and so this bump grows ever bigger.”

The old man went on to describe many other bumps and holes and scratches on his heart, and when he finished the crowd was silent. “You see son” he said, turning to the young man with the unblemished heart, “yours is not a perfect heart, for it has not lived, it has not been touched with joy and tears and laughter and love and pain and anguish and hardship and celebration. Only when you are an old man like me will you be able to look upon a gnarled and battered heart and be able to say, ‘yes, now that is a perfect heart.'”

It’s not enough to know

Surrounding ourselves with wise people is a great place to start, allowing wisdom in prepares us for a deeper relationship but it is only when we take action that things can happen.  Josiah took action…

He has the law read to the people, the begin to follow the plan set out by God for worship, he reinstates the holy feast days, but most important he cleans house, he tears down the idols, the high places but the best thing about Josiah, the best thing that can be said of him is found in

2 Kings 23:25 HCSB

Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.

Josiah came at a time in Israels life when Judgment was not just going to happen it was going to happen soon. He chose a different path. Sometimes we don’t wind down. Sometimes we collapse under the weight of our own choices and are unable to move. We need at that moment to let go of the things that are holding us back and holding us down and do what Josiah did. Let true wisdom show us the changes that must be made for our life and work and ministry to move forward because everyone has a ministry, even if they don’t recognize it. The question is who are you on mission for?

We have been talking about winding down, and the challenge each week has been the same. Invite someone to church. That challenge remains but do it with love and care, thought and wisdom....

This Week’s Challenge

Bring someone to church.