While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into
the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah
the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through
Moses. Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found
the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan. 2 Chronicles 34:14-15
He’s definitely
disappointed because He wants to talk to us.
When
Josiah had the temple cleaned up, the priest found the book of the law—the
first five books of the Bible. They
finally sat down and read it. How could
a priest and the nation of Israel do their job without the Bible in their hands?
Sometimes
we get too busy. Other times we operate
on tradition and on what we always did before or what our ancestors taught us
to do before. We get by with what little
we know—religious principles, homilies, clichés—but we don’t read the word and
let the Holy Spirit tell our hearts what it means, what we need to know.
When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. He gave
these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,[a] Shaphan
the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: “Go and
inquire of the Lord for me and
for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has
been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who
have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in
accordance with all that is written in this book.” 2 Chronicles 34:19-21
If we have
full access to the word of God and we’re not reading it, we are ignoring God
and saying our own guidance matters more than his. We are denying him and operating on
auto-pilot. How can we keep the word of
God if we don’t read it?