He was HOW OLD???

How old do you think you must be to make a difference?  Now before you answer think about that.  Our first response is "at any age", but come on think about it.  Do you think you must be 16, 21, 30, 40, 50, 60+, before you really can make a difference in people's lives.  I was challenged this day by this thought, see the following verse:

^21 Joash^ was seven years old when he began to reign.

12     In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash^ became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ^2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ^3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

^4 Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money that is brought as sacred offerings to the temple of the Lord—the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. ^5 Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, and let it be used to repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”

The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 2 Ki 11:21-12:5

 

2 Kings 11:21 really jumped out at me, did you catch it? How old was Joash? 7 (seven).  Wow, at such a young age he was given the ability and was capable of being king.  Now keep in mind this, Judah had gone through such a long run of bad kings, blood thirsty kings.  A change begin to occur in 2 Kings 11:18, when Jehu gathered all the worshippers of Baal (a false god that was being worshipped) in the baal temple, surrounded it and killed them all; right, wrong, or indifferent that is what happened.  From that point on there was a turn back to worshipping God.  Jehoida has more of a religious reform (see 2 kings 11:17,18) that continued on until Joash became king at the age of (yes i will repeat it again) 7 (seven).

 

At seven years of age Joash made Godly decisions for the nation, mainly seeing to it that the Lord's temple (church) was being repaired and that those who worked on it were paid accordingly.  Verse 15 tells that the work was done with integrity :).  Unfortunately, Joash's servants conspired against him and assassinated the king (2 kings 12:21).  However, in his 40 years of reign he made a huge difference in Judah, as well as for the kingdom of God.

 

So the question is am I? Are you making a difference?  Here's the deal, no matter what age you are, and some of us are 2, 3, 4X the age of Joash, if you are determined to do what is right, in God's eyes, and not your own....YOU CAN AND WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE, NO MATTER THE AGE.

 

Have a blessed day :)