One Story…Our story (Day 9)

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” – Judges 17:6

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…” – Isaiah 53:6

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” -Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death” – Romans 6:23

As we move on through our story, we acknowledge the Book of Joshua which speaks about the conquering of the promised land and God urging His people to be “strong and courageous” in their faith, even when confronted with other options.  Joshua was always reminding the people that they had a choice of who to trust and that they should choose to trust the LORD.

Today we pick up the story after the time of Joshua.  There was a void in leadership and without direction, the people had begun to wander and, as our verse tells us, they chose to do what they thought was best.  The problem with that philosophy of life is that we don’t know what is best.  We are a very self-centered people and, therefore, doing what is best usually means…doing what is best for ME.

This is one of the simplest descriptions of sin in the Scriptures.  We choose to do what we want to do and we do not follow the design that God has set before us.  We say with our actions and sometimes with our words…”You’re not the boss of me!”…and we go our own way.  This always ends in disaster.

The book of Judges is filled with illustrations of God’s people getting into trouble by following their own way.  Then, when things got unbearable they would cry out to their Maker and ask for relief.  God would respond by raising up a deliverer who would rescue them.  But, once the relief came and the crisis was over, they would slide back into the pattern we have seen since the garden of Eden…choosing to go their way…choosing not to trust God’s way.  Over and over throughout the Book, Israel would rebel and God would rescue and they would rebel again.  A carousel of what it looks like when we try to do things our own way.

Can you relate to that?  How many times have you followed your own way rather than God’s and found yourself in trouble.  Isaiah states in the verse above that this is a problem everyone has.  The Bible calls it sin.  It is a serious problem brought into our world by our decision to distrust our loving Father and resist His leading and walk away from His care.  Wait…it gets worse…Sin is a terminal illness.  Everyone who has it will die.  More bad news, the test results are back and you have it.

“But, isn’t there anything we can do?”  No.

But God…the God of love and mercy would not stand by and watch His beloved creation die.  He came to the rescue!  He Himself came!  What the human deliverers in the Book of Judges could only do temporarily and imperfectly, God came to do permanently and righteously.  Again, we see that the stories of the Judges are just a shadow of the salvation to come through the cross of Jesus.  Paul said,

“For in Him (Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.” – Colossians 1:19, 20

“God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died FOR us!” – Romans 5:8

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

So, you have been saved…if you choose to accept it.  There’s that LOVE showing up again…a choice.  Have you chosen to take advantage of this wonderful salvation?  Or will you continue to follow what is “right in your own eyes”?

Make the right choice.  Make this your story.