Today’s Reading Judges 16-18
Focal Scripture: Judges 17: 6 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone die whatever seemed right to him.”
The book of Judges should teach leaders a lot. It gives a front row seat to leaders who constantly do right in their own eyes but continually produce problems. When doing the right things in their own eyes they often have success in the short term. However, as time goes on their leadership can’t go very far because of their character.
Judges shows us many leaders who gained land, performed tremendous feats, destroyed enemies and ruled for extended amounts of time. Unfortunately, they were doing right by their own standard. God was not being consulted and God was not the focus of their conquests.
This warning should give everyone pause who wants to be in leadership. To many times leaders make decisions that seem right to them but have no standing in what God wants. As believers we are not called to do what we want but what God desires. Take for instance our Judges. No where have we seen Judges who are humbling themselves before God. Instilling the sacrificial system for the people. Repenting of sins and relying on God’s provision for themselves and the people.
Instead we keep seeing leaders who make their own decisions. These decisions produce temporary success but promote long term failure. Leaders who react emotional or think they are the smartest person in the room have the biggest long term failure. They believe in their hearts they are doing the will of God. However, they rarely are because they haven’t humbled themselves to know that the ultimate decision maker is God.
When you do what is right in your own eyes you are missing a key component. Where is God? This truth can help Christian Leaders, Churches, and families. It doesn’t matter if it seems right to a man, the question should be is this right to God.
If the Judges would have learned this lesson many aspects of history would be different. If Christian Leaders would learn this today the church would not have the reputation is does today. Be weary of those who have to have the final say. I learned a long time ago that good leaders both secular and in the Christian circle are contemplative and seek God’s face.
I challenge you today to be a person who trusts in God’s knowledge and not your own. To do this means you must humble yourself before God and lean on him for everything.
Tomorrow I plan on reading Judges 19-21
