The Seed of Revival, A devotional thought

There's this very powerful story about the power of God's Word in 2 Kings 22 that has, I think, something very important to say to our world, some 2500 years or more after it was first written.

It's about a young king of Judah named Josiah, who is, the text takes pains to point out, the best king Judah's seen in years.  He's having the Temple of YHWH renovated, and as the workers are cleaning out one of the back rooms, they find a book of the Law--a forgotten book of the long neglected Torah.  No one knows what to do with it.  They give it to the priest, who gives it to the scribe, who brings it to the king, who reads it and realizes how far off track God's people have gone.  He will tear his robe when he hears it, and institute massive religious reforms among his people.

This is, in some ways, the ultimate picture of revival among God's people, and what I notice is that it all starts with re-discovering the neglected, near forgotten Word of God, and bringing it out into the light. I've seen stats and heard recent studies that suggest biblical literacy, Bible memory, habitual Bible-reading, even *basic* acceptance of the Bible as God's Word is at an all-time low among Canadian Christians.  Among Christians, mind you, not non-Christians. You can watch this video for more: http://vimeo.com/93482675.

The poignancy of this story, I think, should hit us deeply: the people found God's book, forgotten in God's house, and when they read it they tore their robes in dismay that they had let it lie neglected for so long.

May God help us all to re-discover his book in a similar way today, fresh and new and life changing; and may revival for us start there.