Heroes Clean House

The king ordered Hil-kiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.
2 Kings 23:4-5

In these Scriptures, we can see King Josiah taking out the trash! He was removing all the things that tried to take the place of God in His temple and didn’t leave a single thing behind that dishonored God. Not only did he remove these things, he left no trace. He cleaned the temple by burning all the idol materials and even took the ashes to Bethel to celebrate God. He fired the false teachers/leaders. This is truly taking out the trash! 

When I read this story, I can’t help but think about what needs to leave my life. Anything that pushes me away from God must go. Anything I put more trust in than Him must go. Any person who points me away from my Father in Heaven cannot have influence in my life. No one can take our trash out for us…we must do it. Is it time for you to spiritually clean house? 

Start by examining what needs to go in your life. Keep in mind, the goal is to take all of the trash out, not just some of it. We are cleaning our spiritual house, not just tidying up. King Josiah was blessed because his heart was so focused on pleasing God. Nothing that grieved the heart of God was left in the temple. As believers who God has designed to be heroes, we can’t afford to be casual about things in our lives that oppose God’s will for us. We must have the same love for God and boldness to make changes as Josiah did. 

My challenge to every reader today would be to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what might need to go in your life. Find someone who you can turn to in accountability to help you see your blind spots and get serious about cleaning the house of your heart!