II Chronicles 34:2 says, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.”
Horace Greeley is attributed as the first to say, “Go west, young man.” Whoever said it first doesn’t matter. It caught on like wildfire. Many set their minds to find a new life in the untamed West. With the sun setting in the west, it was easy to know the general direction. For a more accurate compass, the North Star could always be counted on at night to set one’s bearings. I saw in a movie a man set the wagon tongue toward the North Star at night to give a true direction in the morning.
As we make the Christian journey, we need to know the direction God wants us to go.
Josiah was only eight years old when he began to reign as king of Judah. Josiah had a wicked father. He was so wicked that his own servants killed him and made young Josiah the king. When Josiah was 16 years old he began to seek after God. By the time he was 20 years old he was purging Israel of sin in the land. All the days of Josiah, Israel departed not from following the Lord (II Chronicles 34:33). When Josiah was 26 years old he kept the Passover. It was the greatest Passover since the days of Samuel (II Chronicles 35:18). At age 39 Josiah died, but he would not have had to. He was determined to fight against Necho, King of Egypt. God warned him not to fight. He was hit by an arrow and died in Jerusalem.
He had early set his direction to fight against evil. He never got his eyes off of the North Star. There was only one direction for him to his dying day. Few men, outside of Jesus, have kept such steady direction.
“Reuben Robinson, ‘Uncle Bud,’ 1860-1942, was an ill-prepared preacher who came from a depraved background. Partly because of a speech impediment and partly because he was uneducated, his style was simple. The meaning was understood. He was converted by a Methodist circuit rider in Texas. He was born in a log cabin in the hills of Tennessee. He was called to preach while laying under a wagon. As a circuit-riding preacher for over 42 years, he traveled over 2 million miles, and preached over 33,000 sermons. He saw more than 100,000 conversions. He personally gave more than 85,000 dollars to help young people get a Christian education.” (I found this eulogy in my notes. I don’t know the source.)
Uncle Bud’s famous prayer was, “O Lord, give me a backbone as big as a saw log and ribs like sleepers under the church floor; put iron shoes on me and galvanized breeches and hang a wagon load of determination in the gable end of my soul, and help me to sign the contract to fight the devil as long as I have a vision and bite him as long as I have a tooth, and then gum him ’til I die. Amen”
When 39 year old Josiah came to the valley of Megiddo to fight against the Egyptian King Necho, he could have turned back. II Chronicles 35:22 says, “Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him…”
Strong determination caused the wagon trains to keep moving west despite hard trials. God has a wonderful life for us if we will go in His direction. There are many stars in the heaven to look at. Only one never changes direction—the North Star. The Bible, God’s Holy Word, is our only North Star!
Ahhh! Uncle Bud Robinson. Oh, for the determination he had to reach the lost. His grandson, Rueben Welch, followed in his footsteps. My prayer for our generation, and those yet to come, is that we too shall be determined to follow the Christ and to give our all for the purpose of the Kingdom of God.