We’re going to take a trip in time and learn a lesson about what it means to worship for real. We’re going to do it by getting to know a person your age who learned some important lesson about worship or music. Some of the kids will be real people right out of the Bible. Other times we will make up stories about kids your age to help us make worship and music real in our lives. This month I want to start tell you about Josiah. Grab your Bible and look up his story in 2 Kings 22. Look up 2 Kings 22:1. Did you see how old he was when he became king? He was only 8 years old! Wow, imagine what you could do if you were king and only in 3rd grade. Would you do something goofy like eat ice cream all day or play video games till your eyes bug out? Would you make your sister bow down in front of you?

But Josiah was a pretty serious 8 year old. He was very careful about listening to his spiritual leaders. He had a special relationship with the priests in his country of Israel. He listened carefully to what the Levites had to say about worshiping God. He saw how important it was to come to God just the way the Bible commanded them. They carefully prepared the lambs for the sacrifices and made sure that they approached God with the right gifts and an obedient heart.

Even though there were many obeying God Josiah also knew there were some really bad things going on with worship in his nation. Many people, maybe most people, were not worshiping God alone but also worshiping other things in their life. It seems really amazing, but as good as God had been to the nation of Israel they were adding things to their worship. They started getting ideas from the unsaved nations around them.

Because Josiah was King he could have done some foolish or even sinful things but he made a choice to do what was right before the Lord. He wanted to get real about his worship to the Lord and to be a leader in his nation. He wanted to turn Israel back to God and God alone. He wanted his whole nation to do right and now that he was the new king he could do something about it.

How about you? I know none of you can ever be kings or queens but if you could would you use your power to worship the Lord alone? He is really the only one who is worthy of our worship. Just like in Josiah’s day many today want to worship God any way they want. They are not listening to spiritual leaders who want to obey the Lord in their worship choices. They want to worship God without being serious about obeying Him.

Even though you are not a king you too can make a difference. Purpose in your heart to worship God alone. Worship Him in a careful way and listen to your spiritual leaders when they tell you what the Bible says about your worship and music choices.

Next time we’ll find out the amazing things King Josiah did when he became a teenager. Remember to read about his story in 2 Kings 22.

Bye for now and remember, kids can be leaders too.