1/4/13. Judges 17:1-13. EVERYONE DID AS HE SAW FIT-my devotional

Key Verse: 17:6                                                                                                                                 Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”

     Dear Lord, thank you for helping me to know that this world is not everything. I see so many young lives being cut short by accident and disease. It is such a loss to all of us. But I realize from all of this that we need, we must, live for eternal life in the Kingdom of God. We must live for the future. On person died in his 50’s. What if I make it to my 80’s? 30 years is something, but in light of eternity it is a blink of an eye. I want to entrust my life to you and hold onto what is truly important…an eternal relationship with you. Lord, I come to you and your word. Speak to my heart. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1:  Materialism and Lack of Truth Breeds Idol Worship (17:1-5).

In this passage we see the affects parents have on their kids. Verses 1-5, “ Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim ² said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekelsof silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!” ³ When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.” ⁴ So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. ⁵ Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.”  

An Israelite named Micah stole a huge sum of money from his own mother. (1,100 shekels of silver are worth approximately $12,000.) When his mother placed a curse on the money, he confessed and returned her silver. Then she strangely blessed him in the name of the Lord and used a fifth of the silver to make an idol for him. Micah set up his own form of idol worship with his son as priest. We learn that a family ruled by materialism and lack of truth leads their descendants into idolatry.

I can’t believe what this Micah did. He stole from his own mother! I can’t believe what the mother did. She actually praised her son and gave him a silver idol to worship. That is crazy! No wonder Micah stole his mom’s money. The mom has a problem too. She contributed to her son’s deviance. She was so focused on her material loss. She could have said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” and “I am sure that whoever has the money needs the money more than me.” But she was bringing down curses because of a material loss. She was too focused on money. She also should have disciplined her son, like take away his cell phone or driving privileges.

This is a hard truth that parents don’t want to hear. They don’t want to admit that their own deviances are contributing to their kid’s deviances. When I look back, I have picked up many things from parents, good and bad. I know that my emotional responses and my anger at times have been passed on to me by the previous generation. I too am passing things down to my kids, good and bad. Maybe they will grow to be emotional responders. Maybe they will become isolated and despaired and distressed when faced with the hardships of life. I hope they don’t pick up my bad points. But the fact is, they will.

What should I do? Well, I need to be Christ-like. I need to be truthful. I need to set the example and when my kids do wrong, I need to respond appropriately. When they confess to doing wrong, I can praise them for coming forward. But I won’t reward them with a $12,000 silver statue. No way! They will have to receive some appropriate response to their actions. I need to the wisdom, compassion, the truth of God. I need to deal with every situation with grace and truth and realize that, first, I did the same things when I was young. Second, look for the good points that they actually came forward. Third, give lots of grace. Four, listen more than talk. Five, don’t be afraid to discipline when appropriate.

I realize how important our roles as parents and spiritual leaders are. We can have such an influence on the next generation. We can influence our kids to be part of the solution or part of the problem. But I thank God that he can actually override our influences and become the personal shepherd of our kids. Thank you Lord for saving my kids from my negative influences. I want to rededicate my heart to being a good parent and spiritual mentor to my kids.

Part 2: Everyone Did As They Saw Fit (6-13).

Verses 6-13, “⁶ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. ⁷ A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, ⁸ left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. ⁹ Micah asked him, “Where are you from?” “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.” ¹⁰ Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekelsof silver a year, your clothes and your food.” ¹¹ So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹² Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. ¹³ And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

The author of Judges commented that there was no king and everyone did what they saw fit. The people of Israel had no shepherd, and they lost the word of God. When a Levite came to his house, Micah hired him to be his personal priest and father. The young Levite was not doing right. He was selling out his identity as a servant of God, and his godly duties, in order to get some benefit for himself. For him, the things of God, were nothing more than a means to make a living. It is not good when servants of God sell themselves for just small benefits. In that sense the Levite was doing as he saw fit.

Micah was also a man who did as he saw fit. We already discussed how he stole from his mother and worshipped idols. These are things that no person should every do. Micah desperately wanted a shepherd to lead him and randomly chose this Levite, since they were chosen by God to be priests. He should not think that he could purchase the services of a man of God and have him as his own personal priest. Micah mixed God’s way with his idol worship in his home in order to bring some benefit to his own life. He did not care if he was compromising the ways of the Lord.

Even today, without the word of God and true servants of God, servants of God do things out of selfish gains and people pick and choose how they worship God according to how they see fit. I need to make sure that I am not doing something that self seeking and self preserving. I can not just be a servant of God that has no accountability to anyone. I need to make sure that I am in line with the will of God.  I also cannot just do as I see fit with the motive of getting some benefit, with idol worship in my heart, as Micah did.

Some may think that my changing course in ministry and abandoning the house church ministry for the community BibleChurch model, is doing as I see fit. They may think that I am not listening to the shepherds God has raised up in my life. I don’t think so. There is just no hope to establish a 1:1 campus discipleship ministry here at NIU the way my family is right now and there is no one coming to co-work with us. It is just not happening. I must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. I am faced with a call to the “off site” coordinator for the task of sending missionaries to the NW Ontario. God has planted in my heart, a willingness and an ability to do this. Maybe I should make a long term, sincere commitment to this task. Lord, guide my heart, so that I don’t just do as I see fit, but I may do as you will. If it your call, I want to obey.

The USA is a culture where the notion of human freedom is almost worshipped. We all want to do, just what we want to do. But we need to submit to the things God wants us to submit to. It should be to the Bible, the leading of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual leaders God has placed in our lives and to the other leaders that we are called to obey. Lord, help me to be a submitted Christian and not just a lone wolf.

Prayer: Lord, help me to worship you in your way, according to your word and Spirit. Please guard my heart from materialism, self preservation and idol worship, which blind me.

One Word: Worship God in his way