It happens over and over and over – when people get their relationship right with God, they find peace.

When Jehoiada took over control of the Kingdom of Judah for the child-king Joash, he once got rid of Baal worship by smashing the altars and idols, and killing all of the priests.  Jehoiada also reorganized the responsibilities of the temple according to David’s original directions.  They were to present the burnt offering with rejoicing and singing.

The gatekeepers also made sure no was that was unclean entered the temple area.  The good thing about the gatekeepers needing to discern whether someone was ‘clean’ or not was it gave them a way to tell how serious someone was about their faith.  The directions they had to follow to stay ‘clean’ enough to go to the temple were extensive.   So someone would have to be very intentional about staying ‘clean’.  The negative side of this would be like what happened in the story of the Good Samaritan.  In that instance, the religious people passed by a person in need because it would have made them ‘unclean’.  The right thing to do would have been to get ‘dirty’ and help the person in need.  Being legalistic about God’s directions can sometimes make us blind to the real message God has for us in his word.

Jehoiada was very aware of what God wanted as he protected the child-king and pointed the people of Judah towards God.  When a king who was following God was seated on the throne, the city was calm and the people found peace.

We can experience this same peace when we place God on the throne of our lives.  Even when the circumstances of our lives are not great, God is with us, and, when we let him take control, he can give us peace.

Thank you, dear God.