Watch Out

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WATCH OUT

Judges 2:16-19

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

NIV

These were judges, those raised up to govern the power and God used them to save or deliver them from the hands of the raiders. At this point, we would have thought the people of Israel would have been thankful and praised God, but no, they did not listen to their judges but instead committed fornication or we could say adultery with other gods. This was evil in the sight of God. We see as long as the judge, or governor lived Israel received the compassion of the LORD, but when the judge died, they returned with even more corruption following and serving other gods. We simply cannot understand how the people of Israel did not know the LORD and stayed the course worshipping and serving him only. Is it possible that we believers could get confused and follow some other god? We do know, as we have witnessed, that many Christians have been deceived by false preachers who have drawn them with words that tickle their ears. Those “Name it, and Claim it” preachers, or “You can have it all”, “God wants you to be wealthy”. However, all they want is the money of the people they have fooled to become wealthy. Still, we wonder if we have not taken on any gods of our own that we commit adultery with. We know we cannot serve two masters, the Lord and the world, or its system, its methods for success or security. But have we adopted them into our lives and rebranded them as being frugal or financially conservative. Have we still taken on the view that we need to save up, and store up for our later years in life, as we retire from the workforce, just as the world has created that concept? It is something to ponder on. How many ways of the world have we adopted and brought into the church, or into our lives? When Israel incorporated the ways of other people, the ways of their world, and their gods, it was evil in the sight of God. We should take stock, evaluate our lives, and examine how much, if any, of the ways of this world we have incorporated into our lives, seeing if we are committing adultery, or having an affair with any gods of this world. Even when the LORD blessed them through a judge, they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. We cannot ever allow that to become a part of our thinking. We cannot be stubborn and believe the system of this world is the best way to secure our lives; while professing we trust in the Lord. That is sort of speaking out of both sides of our mouths. Let us  watch out , and throw off anything we put trust in and look only to the Lord, seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness.