It’s the end of the semester and I have a final exam to take. The only problem is I can’t find the class, because I haven’t been there all semester. I always had some reason to not go to the class and then I keep forgetting to drop it. Now of course it’s too late and I need the class to graduate.

I’m in the locker room getting dressed for a football game. The rest of the team is already on the field warming up. I can’t wait to get out there and play, but there’s a problem–I can’t find my helmet.

Those are dreams I’ve had. More than once. The one about missing class always creates this feeling of panic. The football dream is just frustrating.

The first dream is a feeling of “meant to, but didn’t.” The other is more of “want to, but can’t.”

Is that what happened to Israel?

In 1015 B.C., David makes his son Solomon King and charges him with obeying the LORD. Long story short: Solomon blows it and builds altars to foreign gods and idols. That results in the Israel being split in two–Israel and Judah, each with their own kings. Some try to obey the LORD, usually not wholeheartedly, but most do evil in His eyes.

Fast forward 374 years. Josiah is king over Judah. (Israel has already been conquered and sent into exile.) The high priest finds the Book of the Law in the temple and sends it to Josiah. When the king hears the words of the Book of the Law, he tears his robes and realizes the LORD is angry with them because they haven’t been obeying His commands.

Josiah gets serious about obeying and begins burning, destroying and desecrating anything to do with the worship of other gods and idols. “Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of His fierce anger, which burned against Judah…”

That’s sobering. It was too late. They’d turned away from the LORD for too long.

So I have to wonder–how did they misplace the Book of the Law in the first place? How did they so easily turn to other gods and idols?

I don’t know. How do I?

I meant to spend time with the LORD, but forgot. I want to obey, but can’t.

I have more in common with those people than I care to admit.