LEARNING DAILY

 

Judges 21:25, In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

 

Dr. Ed Newton has been giving great insight into the problems Israel was having because of their failure to follow God’s commands. One of his opening statements this weekend was, “When we begin to do what is right in our own eyes we begin to drift away from God.” I have gone back to a verse I have written about several times to try to expand on Pastor Ed’s comment.

 

God’s intent has always been to lead His people, to provide leadership and provide the standards by which they are led. He desired this with Israel, but they wanted a king. He wants to do this with the church, but too often the church has allowed the world to influence its beliefs and behavior. Too often the “church’s” attempt to bring people into it is undistinguishable from the world. Because of that people find a church that supports their beliefs in order to justify their lifestyle. Because of that I have tried to distinguish between church and the Church; the Church (capital C) is those faithful followers of Jesus Christ and His Word.

 

The writer of Judges ends the book with a summary that would tell the story of each judge and the account of having no king. It is also a statement that tells us that the people were not willing to do what God demanded; they would not live spiritually the way God demanded. Instead, people chose to live the way they wanted. It is clear that great danger lies in this way of thinking. It brought chaos, evil lifestyles, idol worship and God’s judgment. For Israel it meant enslavement to foreign enemies until God delivered them through a judge. For people today, those who believe they can live any way they want, God has sent His Son to fulfill His plan for our salvation. To accept Him and to walk His narrow way into eternal life in His kingdom is a choice each person must make for themselves.

 

I hope I “step on some toes” today! For anyone to have the idea that your feelings, your thought about your life being yours to live the way you want to, your opinions that you are going to live your life doing what is “right in your own eyes” is something you need to step back and consider! Proverbs 16:2 states, “People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives” (NLT). If one wants to justify their actions and attitudes, remember that the Lord looks at our heart.  A person might believe they are morally okay when God is saying that person is incapable of seeing what is spiritually true. Wisdom that comes according to “our own eyes” always seems to be connected to evil. When there “is no king” (that would be Jesus Christ) in one’s life, that person becomes blind to truth and is deceived. Being without a king means that the person places themselves as judge to what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable. But without God, that judgment is corrupted; one’s perspective is always off.

 

This is tough teaching; but necessary! Doing what is right in our own eyes is always wrong! Why? It is because what is truly right is only what is right in God’s eyes. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn your back on evil” (NLT).  Before we start pointing fingers regarding this page of the blog let me ask you to think about what you are doing that is “right in your own eyes”. When it comes to forgiveness are you doing what is right in your own eyes? What about your finances? What about what you do in your free time? What about dealing with your past or the past of someone else? What about your reading, your television time, what you listen to?

 

The greatest need you and I have is to make Jesus Christ the king of our heart! We take ourselves off the throne of our heart and place Him there. Then our actions, our words, our thoughts and everything else comes from our devotion to Him. There is nothing else that matters.

 

I ask you to pray for me in this. I am praying for each of you to place Jesus Christ on the throne of your life. There is no greater choice each of us can make.