“… “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord…” 2 Chronicles 34:15
I enjoy a good spy novel. I also really enjoy a good adventure book. But what I really love is a daring adventure on the high seas. A yarn dashed with colorful characters with patches and sabers engaged in a harrowing search for treasure. Long John Silver, Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, all filled with the idea of finding the big X that marks the spot and digging up a chest overflowing with glittering pieces of eight. But today we see another kind of treasure being found. Not in the pages of a classic pirate adventure book but in the biggest adventure book of all time, God’s Word, the Bible. You see, there is a underlying constant that God’s Word points to concerning the human heart, left to its own natural sinful ways, the human heart will slowly forget God. It happened countless times in the Israelite’s desert wandering, it happened countless times among the kings of Israel and it happened all the way to the Cross in the New Testament. All mankind has a natural innate desire to move away from God. And if the human heart is followed, this desire will lead it continents away from God and His Laws. And that’s just what we find as proof in our text of 2 Chronicles chapter 34. The hearts of Israel have forgotten God. They are worshiping false gods, serving idols in their lives, satisfying whatever desire their flesh whispers in their ears, and doing it all with reckless abandon. But as good king Josiah arrives on the scene, he starts a clean-up. He begins destroying the false temples, removing the ungodly idol worship and cleaning out the house of the Lord so that true worship could resume. And in doing so, in seeking a renewed relationship with the Lord, they find the greatest treasure the world has ever known. The book of the Lord. Israelite society had strayed so far away from God they had completely lost track of the scrolls that contained the Word of God. They had lost God’s very Words and how He instruct His children to live. Men and women had forgotten God in order to go their own way. As they find the Book of God and blow off the dust, revival begins. Yearning hearts encounter God’s Word for the first time and it does what it does…convicts and guides hearts that belong to God. There are countless parallels of this story today. Our world in general has forgotten the Word of God. We live in a world that preaches that we should serve ourselves first, be who our hearts tell us to be, and do what feels good in the moment. Folks, these are all clever marketing tactics of satan to lead you in the opposite direction of God. Today, refuse to believe the lies and go on a treasure hunt. Go find you Bible and if you’re not in a daily study of it, get into one. Discover the Word of God and start digging through to find the treasure that lies on each page. For the world will not change as a city, a state, or a nation discovers the Word of God, but individual hearts. As individual lives are made right before God according to the power of His Word, then and only then, will you see revival sweep the land. You don’t need a big black “X” to mark the spot of the treasure, it lies right in front of you…within the pages of God’s Holy Word.
“Imprint these Words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads.” Deuteronomy 11:18
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