Is It Enough To Do What I Think Is Right?

What is God saying this morning as I turn the pages of Judges?

From Jephthah’s vow that leads to the death of his daughter

to the entire life of Samson, filled with the impulsive use of his strength,

to Micah and his house full of gods and his very own Levite priest,

these chapters are filled with men trying to do the right thing………

in their own way.

In those days Israel had no king.

Each man did what he considered to be right.

Judges 17:6

I sit here this morning in the dark,

birds beginning to chirp just outside my window,

and I wonder,

“Am I any different?”

Rash vows

Impulsive decisions

Unnamed idols

In the name of God, I’ve been guilty of them all.

Not knowingly, I hope,

but guilty all the same.

So this morning as I sit here,

thinking about my vow to blog through the entire Bible in 2019,

I can’t help but cringe a little.

I don’t ever want a vow to become more important than the One who authored the very book I’m reading.

So this morning, I’m leaning back and listening.

Pausing from my own thoughts long enough to hear God’s.

My King.

If I’m blogging through the Bible just to have a reason to write,

I don’t want to blog anymore.

But if I’m blogging to keep me focused on the many lessons tucked away in Scripture,

then keep me writing.

The birds seem louder than normal,

as if they’re not only waking up the sun but also waking up my soul.

The clicking of my fingers on my keyboard becomes part of the morning sound in a way it hasn’t in a while.

Did Jephthah stop and think before vowing to sacrifice the first person who came from his house as he returned from war?

Did he think about the fact that his only child would be the one to come dancing with tambourines?

Did Samson swing the jawbone of a donkey, killing a thousand men,

because God told him to or because he thought it was the right thing to do?

Did Micah really believe a house full of gods

brought the One and Only God closer

when he knew the very God he wanted to please had said over and over again,

“Do not make any graven images.”

Justified.

I believe these men felt it.

I believe they somehow had convinced themselves that what they were doing was right –

and they were somehow walking in the right direction.

It’s easy to read their stories today and see where their feet slipped off the path.

But how often do I look at my own footing?

How do I know when I’m walking in God’s ways or my own?

How do I pull myself far enough away from my own steps to make sure the path I’m on is straight?

I want to dig deep and interrogate my motives.

Am I spiritual because I love God or because I love the thought of being spiritual?

That’s a tough question,

and I have wrestled with it many times over the years.

It’s a question I don’t ever want to stop wrestling with, though,

because I never want to stop asking myself,

Is God really my King or am I just doing what I think is right?

This isn’t an easy thing to ask.

But this morning,

God is saying,

“Tammy, I want you to ask yourself this hard question…..often.”

__________________________

I don’t know a lot this morning, but I do know this.

I want God to be my King,

because doing what I think is right will never be enough to keep me on the path that leads me Home.

But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to life.

Only a few people find it.

Matt. 7:14

Little boys threw rocks in the water at the lake last night.

It looked innocent enough.

Rocks are fun to throw –

especially when you’re a little boy at a lake.

But just over the hill,

they couldn’t see the sign that read,

Do Not Move Rocks.

God, may I never wander too far from you.

I don’t want to miss your signs.

There is no one holy like the LORD;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

I Sam. 2:2

(Today’s reading was from Judges 10 – 18.)