“No king before Josiah had turned to Yahweh with all his heart, soul, and strength, as directed in Moses' Teachings. No other king was like Josiah.” (2 Kings 23:25)

Josiah was zealous for the Lord. In 2 Kings 23:24 it says, “Josiah also got rid of the mediums, psychics, family idols, and disgusting gods that could be seen in the land of Judah and Jerusalem.”

I was reading an article yesterday about Megan, the grand-daughter of the pastor of Westboro Church who had for her whole life held up signs about all the people God hates, picketing the most painful events, and she thought she was following God. She was doing it all in God's name.

Made me think of Paul (Saul) who persecuted the early Christians and approved of Stephan's stoning as well as sought to hunt down and arrest Christians in the name of God. Paul (Saul) thought he was serving God by his actions but this was far from actuality.

Paul and Megan, like Josiah were zealous. They wanted to see the land cleansed of sin and were willing to take action to do it. And all of them were following their interpretation of the Word of God, including Josiah (2 Kings 23:24b).

However, the difference between Paul (Saul), Magan and Josiah is that Josiah was broken. He had a deeply repentant heart for his own as well as his people's sin. When he heard the words of the Lord, he was cut to the heart, and tore his clothes in distress (2 Kings 22:11-13).

Paul (Saul) and Megan, on the other hand, seemed to be serving the Lord out of a religious understanding of who He was. Their zeal seems to have came from a place of self-righteous understanding of the law. They were not repentant of their own sin and turning to God in brokenness but trying to eliminate what they felt was sin going on around them.

As we all know the parable about the Pharisee who did everything right and the tax collector, it was the tax collector who came to God in repentance who was forgiven and received, not the one who had followed the law as rules for living and thought of himself as getting it right.

True brokenness is evident in the fruit it produces. Jesus says in Matthew 7:16-20, “You will know them by what they produce. People don't pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they? In the same way every good tree produces good fruit, and a rotten tree cannon produce good fruit.”

The fruit that resulted from Paul's (Saul's) and Megan's ministries were one of self-righteous condemnation of others. They lacked the true fruit of the spirit that demonstrated God's love. They didn't see themselves as sinners in need of mercy.

Because they chose a religious holiness that is based upon rules and self-righteousness, like the Pharisees, they totally missed the weightier matters of the bible of justice and mercy. They thought they had the answers and were in need of nothing so they did not realize they were really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked (Rev. 4:17). Their lack of their understanding of their need for mercy kept them from being able to then extend mercy to others.

Like Josiah, David was someone who deeply understood his own brokenness, sinfulness and need for mercy. He proclaims in Psalm 63:3, “My lips will praise you because your mercy is better than life itself.”

The only way to understand God's unconditional love and mercy in the midst of our sinfulness is to experience it for ourselves. Paul (Saul) had this experience when he was knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus. He tasted of his sinfulness but then also tasted of God's unconditional love for him and mercy towards him. To the extent that it totally transformed who he was and what he believed. The new Paul knew he was a sinner, but knew God's grace was more than sufficient for him.

Paul proclaimed in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.”

It is His love and forgiveness for our sin that changes us. And 1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

This is the love and mercy we then take to the world. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.”

Josiah's actions were out of a zealousness in love and gratitude for God. God had captivated His heart. He knew God's goodness and turned to him with his whole heart, soul and strength – giving Him everything.

Lord, forgive me where I do things out of religious duty or self-righteous responsibility. Remind us once again of the great mercy we have received and fill our hearts once again with gratitude for your goodness in our lives.