If King Josiah heard some of the excuses given for not serving the Lord, I’d expect him to be thoroughly disappointed. I would also expect him to have some good responses to those excuses. The following are a few excuses that might be given for not living acceptably. Based on the account of Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34 and 35, these are some thoughts that he might have shared.

I’m too young to worry about spiritual things.

I could have given this excuse. I was eight years old when I became king (cf. 34:1). What business does an eight year old have being king? However, I didn’t shy away from the task. I “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (34:2). I wasn’t too young to seek the Lord. While I was sixteen, I began to seek Him (cf. 34:3). You might remember that Jesus said, “seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). He never said anything about an age limit. When I was twenty I “began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images” (34:3). I wasn’t too young to worry about spiritual things. I understood I needed to seek the Lord. I began to live for Him at a young age. Paul told Timothy, “let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Paul expected Timothy to be an example as a youth! Youth is no excuse! Being young was not an excuse for me, and it shouldn’t be for you. You can live for God at an early age. You can make a difference at an early age. Don’t despise your own youth by making it an excuse to delay living for God!

It’s not my fault. This is how I was raised!

One of the things I learned from my family is that you don’t have to follow in your father’s footsteps. My great-great-grandfather, King Ahaz, “became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord” (28:22). He sacrificed to false gods, and burned incense to them (cf. 28:23, 25). He even had the audacity to “cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, [and] shut up the doors of the house of the Lord” (28:24). When he died, my great-grandfather, Hezekiah, took his place as king. Hezekiah could have followed in his father’s footstep, but he didn’t. He “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (29:2). After he died, my grandfather, Manasseh, took his place as king. Everything Hezekiah did was thrown out the window. My grandfather “did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel” (33:2). My father, Amon, imitated his vile character. “He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done” (33:22). Statistics were not in my favor to become a godly king. Three out of the last four kings were rotten. However, this was not an excuse for me! I knew what was right, and so I did what was right. You should “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). You won’t be judged based on how you were raised!

It’s too late to change. I’m too far gone.

While seeking to please the Lord, I made plans to “repair the house of the Lord” (34:8). In the midst of the reconstruction, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the Law (cf. 34:14). After hearing the words of the Law I became distraught. Impending doom awaited. “Our fathers [had] not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that [was] written in [the] book” (34:21). Instead of thinking it was too late to change, I took action! I had Hilkiah “inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who [were] left in Israel and Judah” (34:21). The Lord saw my heart was tender, and that I humbled myself before Him, and he spared me from seeing the calamity (cf. 34:26-28). I continued to restore true worship, and kept the Passover (cf. 34:29-35:19). As long as you are alive, it isn’t too late to turn to the Lord. I didn’t make that excuse, and neither should you! “The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Thank God for his patience. His longsuffering is our salvation (cf. 2 Peter 3:15)! If you are reading this right now you have an opportunity to correct your life. It isn’t too late! Stop making excuses!