2 Chronicles 34:29-35:19

“And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.” (2 Chronicles 34:31, ESV)

It’s not complicated. To receive God’s blessing, one must first align himself with God’s purposes. We must seek to do God’s will, God’s way in God’s time. Hearing the reading of the Book of the Law changed everything for Josiah. Now he had the game plan. Now he knew what God required. It was simply a matter of following orders. But it began with a covenant—a solemn commitment. Josiah would walk after the LORD with all his heart and all his soul.

In one sense Josiah was destined for this. Three hundred years earlier the man of God prophesied against the altar in Bethel that King Jeroboam had built.

“O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.” (1 Kings 13:2, NLT)

He called out Josiah by name, and of course Josiah did all these things. God foreknew Josiah just as He foreknows each of us.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29–30, ESV)

God abundantly blessed Josiah and brought about an amazing spiritual revival under his leadership. Josiah even succeeded in causing all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to join in his covenant with the LORD. After Josiah removed the abominations from the land, he made all the people who were present in Israel serve the LORD. And all the days of Josiah they did not turn away from following the LORD their God (2 Chronicles 34:33).

All these things happened because Josiah simply set his heart to do what God said. Are we willing to do this? Will we obey Christ with all our heart and all our soul? God looks at the motive of our heart, and then He sends His Spirit to help us just do it!