Deepening Your Faith using King Josiah’s Example
King Josiah stepped into a kingdom filled with corruption, idolatry, and spiritual decay. Scripture tells us that “the Book of the Law” had been lost, forgotten, and neglected within the very Temple meant for God’s worship (2 Kings 22:8). When Josiah ordered repairs to the Temple, the high priest Hilkiah found the scroll tucked away, buried under years of misuse and compromise. The Temple had been defiled with pagan altars, Asherah poles, star-worship, and vessels dedicated to Baal. Josiah later discovered these abominations and “brought out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven” (2 Kings 23:4). He “broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes” within the Temple courts (23:7) and removed the idolatrous priests who had been leading the people astray.
When the Book of the Law was read aloud to Josiah, Scripture says he tore his clothes in grief and alarm. He realized that he and his people had not been obeying God at all, because they had not even known His commands. And God responded to Josiah’s humility with this astonishing statement: “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself when you heard My words… I also have heard you” (2 Kings 22:19). Or in essence: Because he heard Me, I heard him.
This truth sets the tone for everything that follows: God listens to the one who listens to His Word.
King Josiah is a powerful picture of what it looks like when someone encounters the Word of God and responds with humility, trembling, and immediate obedience. Scripture tells us that Josiah was initially uninstructed in the Word of God. Even though he was doing what seemed right, he did not have the full counsel of Scripture before him. But the moment the Book of the Law was discovered and read aloud, Josiah was horrified—not at God, but at the realization that the people were not obeying His Word, and that they had not adhered to the instructions God had given. He responded by tearing his clothes in humility, seeking the Lord, repenting, and cleansing the land. And the Lord responded to Josiah with these astonishing words: “Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken… I also have heard you,” (2 Kings 22:19). Or in essence: Because he heard Me, I heard him.
This is a profound truth: God listens to the one who listens to His Word.
⸻
Josiah and the Importance of Hearing — and Submitting to — the Word of God
Josiah shows us that the Word of God is not passive ink on a page. It demands a response. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active… it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” This is why so many believers hit a spiritual wall. The Word begins to speak directly to areas of life that must be changed, surrendered, or repented of. And rather than letting the Word judge them, they begin to judge the Word. They say: “I believe this part, but not that part,” especially when Scripture confronts something they or someone they deeply love is involved in. They selectively believe what feels comfortable instead of submitting to the full counsel of God.
Josiah is the opposite picture. Once he heard the Word, he fully aligned himself with it, starting with his own heart and then moving outward to the nation he led.
⸻
Josiah’s Reform and How It Mirrors the Spiritual Life of Believers Today
When Josiah realized how far the people had drifted from God, he acted decisively. He tore down altars, destroyed idols, and—importantly—cut off the false priests who were leading the people astray. These priests were practicing pagan rituals and giving ungodly guidance. Josiah removed them because they were a corrupting influence.
In the same way, when believers come to the Lord, many take off like a shot. There is excitement, passion, immediate fruit, and genuine transformation. But part of spiritual maturity is recognizing that not everyone in your life can remain a voice of influence. Josiah removed the priests not because they were to cease existing as people, but because they could no longer be trusted to speak into the life of the nation.
You have the same responsibility. There are friends, influencers, entertainers, voices you follow, and people in your inner circle who function like “priests” in your life—voices with authority, shaping the way you think, live, and believe. When you come to the Lord, the Holy Spirit begins revealing that some of these voices cannot continue to have that level of influence if they are pulling you toward disobedience or compromise. You can still have relationships, but they cannot remain your counsel if their direction leads you away from God.
⸻
The Parable of the Sower and the Danger of a Divided, Thorn-Filled Heart
Jesus’ parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1–23) gives a perfect spiritual explanation for all of this. The Word of God is the seed. Some seed falls on shallow soil—this represents the person who receives the Word with joy, but because they have no depth, their faith withers as soon as persecution or difficulty comes. Their roots never went deep enough.
But the seed that falls among thorns is the one Jesus says represents a heart that receives the Word, but the cares of this world, temptations, comforts, fears, cultural pressure, or personal desires choke it. This person responds to the Word at first, sometimes for years. But when the Word begins to say something they do not like—something that must be changed—that is where they hit the wall. The Word begins to judge their thoughts and attitudes, and they pull back. They stop letting the Word judge them, and instead they judge the Word.
This is often the believer who has been in church for years but eventually falls away due to offense—offense not at people, but at Scripture itself. They cannot surrender the thorn. They refuse to let the Word uproot what is choking their spiritual life.
⸻
Will We Be Like Josiah—or the Thorny Soil?
In every believer’s journey comes a moment when the Word of God confronts something deep: attitudes, relationships, identity, lifestyle, pride, offenses, preferences, or long-held beliefs. And in that moment, we either become like Josiah—humbling ourselves, repenting, obeying, removing influences, and aligning with Scripture—or we become like the thorn-filled soil, letting the Word be choked by the things we refuse to let go of.
Josiah received the Word, trembled at it, and conformed his entire life to it. God responded with mercy, saying, “Because you heard Me, I heard you.”
The question for every believer is simple:
Will we let the Word judge us, or will we judge the Word?
Will we be like Josiah, or will we be the seed among thorns?
If we choose humility, obedience, and the full counsel of God, then like Josiah, when we hear Him—He will hear us.