As a Christian, you have been set apart to be used to honor God for His purposes. 1st Corinthians 6 provides some reminders of how God has redeemed you to serve Him:
11 But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.12All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
God has placed a unique call upon your life - you are in the midst of a refining process that results in greater honor for God. And, I believe that there are special assignments that He has ordained for you - He will use your position - as a husband or wife, as a parent, in your job, perhaps a church leadership position, maybe a coach or some other area of influence in the community. He will use you to shine His light and to testify to His glory.
The results are in for the mayoral election in the tiny town of Dorset, Minnesota, which is a bit of a tourist attraction - in fact, it's billed as the "Restaurant Capital of the World"! Population is somewhere around 25.
And, this past Sunday, Bobby Tufts was re-elected to serve his second term as mayor. His name was picked during the annual Taste of Dorset festival. Anyone could vote as many times as they wanted for $1 per vote, according to a Politico story. Bobby likes fishing and eating ice cream, and he's yet to complete his education - he actually hasn't even begun his education - he's only 4 and starts preschool this fall.
He does have a platform, though - his mom says that his agenda includes raising money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley in Fargo, N.D., and a new welcome sign for Dorset.
The Bible tells us about a real-life child who became a king of Judah during the days of the divided kingdom - the nation of Israel consisted of 10 original tribes, and Judah included the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. We pick up the story in 2 Chronicles 34:
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.
He undertook an effort to repair the temple, and we read in the 2 Kings account in chapter 22:8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord."So not only was God's word found in the midst of this repair effort, but King Josiah actually made reforms consistent with the Word. We read in 2 Kings 23:2The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem--the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.3Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow 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 this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.
It's hard to imagine someone so young being thrust into leadership, and he probably had stewards, such as his mother, who actually did the administration of the affairs of the kingdom. But, over the course of his life, he discovered the word of the Lord and really began to put it into practice. I don't know what made the difference for Josiah and stimulated his interest in following the Lord, but there was a distinct moment when he was 16 years old, the 8th year of his reign, that he made the decision to seek the ways of God.
This can be a story of encouragement for parents to create an atmosphere of Christian teaching and principles in your home. At some point, our kids have to make that personal decision to follow Christ, and while we can help to provide the foundation, they have to make that faith their own.
Josiah started young, and apparently possessed a strong foundation. And, his story provides us with some encouragement about putting our faith into practice. Here was a king that had an awareness and a devotion to spiritual matters - it was he who put away idolatry in the kingdom, he was the one who wanted to repair the temple, and he was the one who read the word of the Lord to the people. He demonstrates for us the power of initiative. We can say we follow Christ or attempt to be a good church member, but there comes a time in which we have to follow God's call and use our position to put faith into practice. He used his position for the good of the kingdom and for godly purposes. And, perhaps you are strategically positioned today to be used by the Lord to do His will that can affect scores of other people. It starts with a love for the Lord, a desire to follow Him, and a recognition of the unique place to which He has called you.
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