Many evil kings in both Israel and Judah had led their people in spiritual harlotry. In the land God had given them they openly practiced idolatry and sin. In the city in which God said HIS name would dwell, foreign gods were worshiped. In His holy temple altars to other gods had been set up for the worship of the people, and the land was littered with the altars of false worship on the high places. King after king followed in the evil path, each one seemingly outdoing the previous evil worship practices. Then along came King Josiah.
Josiah was a man whose heart was pure. Having been shown a book of God's Law, he realized how angry God must have been with the unfaithful hearts of so many generations. His repentant heart caused him to rip his clothes and weep before the Lord for the atrocious sins of the people. Then he set his heart and mind to reform Jerusalem, the priesthood, the temple practices, and the hearts of his people. God, knowing all that was in Josiah's heart, saw that his heart was tender and humble.
A heart that is pure and crystal clear, rid of the sins that want to hide there in the darkness, is a heart that God can write on. When God writes on a heart, the heart is transformed from doing evil (practicing disobedience) to doing what is right in His sight (practicing obedience).
A pure heart can be seen by the unsaved. It is pure motives, love and compassion, that inspire truly pure actions. God uses pure-hearted people to help those who are unbelievers "see" Him. But all too often our words, our attitudes, and our actions (or lack thereof) show the hypocrisy of our lives.
Bit by painful bit, our hearts have to be surrendered to God, so that He has control of our hearts. And when we have surrendered ourselves to Him, to do as HE pleases, the joy of obeying His commands will follow.
How clear and shiny is your heart? Windex, anyone?
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