When the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered some refugees came to Jerusalem bringing their spiritual treasures with them. Some years later the temple officials found some of these treasures and told the king. “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.” (This might be the Book of Deuteronomy.) King Josiah uses this discovery as the occasion to call the Jewish people back to greater fidelity to God. Ongoing conversion is a challenge for believers of any age. It is easy to get stuck in being good when the call is to be better. As John Henry Newman once said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” (Churchill famously quoted Newman when he was criticized.) Most often the changes called for are not life-altering but incremental efforts at becoming more kind, compassionate, forgiving and generous.
JUNE262024
By Church Staff
