From a Broken Home

  

Not everyone has a great childhood. Some children grow up in terrible situations, and it's a wonder they made it out of childhood at all. Once, a young boy named Josiah had a lousy home life. His father, though wealthy, was an evil man. He was a practitioner of the dark arts, worshipping devil gods in perverse ways. He was only 16 years old when Josiah was born. Eight years later, villains murdered Josiah's dad in their own house. Losing a parent is hard at any age, but for a son to lose his dad at the age of eight, and to murderous hands, would be particularly hard on the young man. How is his life going to turn out? He might have followed in his father's footsteps and to honor him, become like him. Another course would be for Josiah to become bitter and hardhearted. The world was against him. Everything is always falling apart for him. Nothing ever goes his way.

Josiah was the eight-year-old king of Judah. Does that make a difference? He was actually in more danger of turning out just as rotten as his dad. It's not very often that celebrity children grow up well adjusted. Childhood actors and actresses rarely make it to adulthood without a mental and emotional collapse. They are taken advantage of, used, abused, stolen from, and by the time they reach adulthood, many are broken inside and out. King Josiah wasn't just a famous kid – he was the king. How much more would the flatterers and politicians try to get their hooks in him?

By God's grace, not only did Josiah turn out ok, but he was also second to none when it came to the kings of Judah,  "there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him," (2 Kings 23:25). There wasn't a more godly king who sat on the throne than Josiah. He began to seek the Lord at an early age. When Josiah turned, 16 he began a series of reforms that changed the face of the nation. Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and rather than following in his dad's footsteps, he followed in king David's. He wasn't bitter and hardhearted but had a tender heart and humbled himself before the Lord (2 Kings 22:19). Josiah's submission to the word of God, his tender heart to receive the truth, and his humble heart to confess his sin before God made him one of the great men of history.

God's grace took a boy from a home, grounded in wickedness, disordered in idolatry, and broken in a tragedy and saved him from the curse of a bad family life. God's grace is sufficient, powerful, and life-changing. Don't excuse your sins by your upbringing. There is grace, forgiveness, and a new life in Christ.