Jehoshaphat's Initiative

 ¹ Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel. ² And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had taken. ³ Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, ⁴ but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel. ⁵ Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance. ⁶ And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah.⁷ Also in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. ⁸ And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹ So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.  - 2 Chronicles 17:1-9

     Jehoshaphat is an amazing king and a great example of godly leadership. It seems he is often overlooked when studying the Bible. I don't remember too many lessons on Jehoshaphat through the years. He took control in Judah when he was only thirty-five, and he led the nation in the ways of the Lord like Asa and David before him. We see that he took delight in the ways of the Lord, he did not worship Baal and he continued to clean up the idols and the altars throughout Judah. It also interestingly states that he did not follow in the ways of Israel. His fellow Jews were in a spiritually dark time under the reign of the infamous Ahab and Jezebel tag-team. Jehoshaphat chose to lead the people in what he knew to be the Truth. Today's thought, and one of the first signs of good leadership, is Jehoshaphat's desire to instruct and educate his people. He sent trusted leaders along with Levites and priests to take the Scripture to the citizens and teach them. He wanted his followers to be versed in the truth and taught about their God and their heritage. I believe that this is absolutely necessary for successful leadership and I also feel that it is an area I personally need to improve. God has placed a desire in my heart to educate the youth around me. Plans are in the works to start a new youth group associated with our school so that we may teach young Christians and strengthen them in the Lord. I feel like the Church of God is often leaving new converts to the wolves. We witness and visit homes and bring people into the fold, but then once they receive Christ they are often left to pick truths out of confusing sermons. We often fail to instruct them as the spiritually uneducated. When I finished kindergarten I didn't move to high school. How can we expect new believers to grow when they can't process the food? The same is true with many of our teenagers. Not only are they young spiritually, they are young physically. Their minds and hearts are not the same as the middle-aged and older generations. They need instruction that is suited for them. How can we expect our followers to be educated if we don't educate them? How can we expect new converts to spread the Gospel if they don't fully understand it yet? It's time we took Jehoshaphat's initiative and started educating our people in the ways of the Lord. I feel there is probably little else that Satan loves more than an uneducated follower of Christ.