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My dear friend, Believe it or not, today we wrap up our in depth discussion of the Seven Steps in Coming Clean with step # 7: I have asked God to give me strength to be transparent before Him and others. When the Lord placed the burden on my heart to write a weekly E-Letter and to go in depth on the Seven Steps to coming clean, I endeavored to unravel what it means to come clean. Today, I want to bring our discussion full circle, especially as it relates to my greatest burden, our youth. Yesterday while I was doing my devotional I read a passage that spoke pierced my heart. It is located in 2 Chronicles 34 about a young King named Josiah. "Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn aside from doing what was right. During the eight year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year, he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem. "In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple he appointed Maaseiah the governor of Jerusalem . . . to repair the Temple of the Lord his God . . . As Hilkiah the high priest was recording the money collected at the Lord's Temple, he found the Book of the Law of the Lord . . . Shaphan took the scroll to the king. . . When the king heard what was written in the law, he tore his cloth in despair . . . then he ordered: Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for all the remnant of Israel and Judah. Ask him about the words written in this scroll that has been found. The Lord's anger has been poured out against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of the Lord. "This is what the Lord says: 'I will certainly destroy this city and its people . . . for the people of Judah have abandoned me and worshiped pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will be poured out against this place, and nothing will be able to stop it. But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him: you were sorry and humbled yourself before God when you heard what I said against this city and its people. You humbled yourself and tore your clothing in despairs and wept before me in repentance. So I have indeed heard you', says the Lord. 'I will not send the promised disaster against this city and its people until after you have died and been buried in peace.'" (2 Chronicles 34: 1-29) In this passage we discover a child whom God has raised up to be king and who would ultimately change the destiny of his people. So, I must ask, is God is not able to do the same through our youth today? Is God not able to rise up young persons today to be modern day Josiah's? The answer is, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and definitely, yes. We are the problem. God has not changed. Whatever He has done for and through others throughout history He will do for us today. So I must ask another question; How do we appropriate this promise and empower our youth to become today's Josiah's? I believe the above passage provides us with the blueprint we need. In this story we read about an eight year old child that becomes kings. When he is sixteen he begins to seek God with all his heart as his ancestor David did. At the age of twenty he initiates an eight-year project to purify his country. When he turns twenty-six he appoints elders to rebuild the temple-God's home. Suddenly the temple high priest finds a Book of the Law, written by Moses, which details God's law and the wrath God will bring on the people for turning from Him. When an elder brings the book to this twenty-six year old king, he does not make up a bunch of excuses for his people or himself, but he tears his cloths in despair-a sign of transparency-and he humbles himself before God in tears-a sign of contrition. God sees the transparency and contrition in this young king's heart and He promises him that he will not see the destruction of his kingdom and that he will be buried in peace. Amazing!! My friend, for me the answer does not lie in a binding set of rules and regulations but in a broken and contrite heart that is humble and transparent before an amazing creator. We can read all the Seven Steps in Coming Clean over and over again until we memorize them. We can read the Bible day in and day out and go to church until the Lord takes us home. If our hearts are not right before God, all we have done is engage in a superficial religious practice. Abraham Lincoln said that our youth are destined to take over what we adults have started, and that the fate of humanity lies in their hands. But if we adults do not humble ourselves before our God and walk in transparency before our children, we will never be able to empower them to be all they can be, and they cannot become the Josiah's who will purify our nation and avert God's judgment. Let us be clear. We have sinned. Our behavior has been displeasing to our Lord, and if God is real and consistent He will judge us. We have an immense opportunity today to empower our youth to be Josiah's. However, this will never happen if we fail to come clean with our children. Every morning I go before my Lord Jesus Christ and I beg of Him to cleanse me, to enable me to be so real before my kids, that when I tell them that God is our father, they will have no doubt it is true as they see my heart. God bless you.
Love,
Jorge Valdes, Ph.D.
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