Consequences for going my own way . . .

Deuteronomy 12; Psalms 97–98; Isaiah 40; Revelation 9

This morning my little prayer book gave me a request that God would enable me to see this world as He sees it. I prayed this, not really expecting any great vision. However, the Scripture readings for today did offer a thought that deeply saddens my heart. This thought is connected to a promise the Lord made to Abraham.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3)

In the plan of God, this promise extended to all who believe God as Abraham believed, including the Christian church. In other words, God blesses those who bless His people but those who dishonor God’s people put themselves in harm’s way.

However, we are also responsible to listen to God and obey Him, not defy Him by doing whatever we think is right:

“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 12:8–9, italics mine)

Doing whatever we think is right is the human problem the Bible calls sin. As the prophet Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” and it is for this that Christ died and “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Today this “turning our own way” usually does not involve making wood or metal idols, but back then it did. God condemned this, even ridiculed it. How can a man-made figure do anything? It cannot see or hear or understand as He can. Idols are nothing, yet the New Testament says there is a real danger in idolatry because demonic powers are involved in it.

Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:18–21)

The connection is this: idol worship makes people vulnerable to evil powers. The connection is obvious to me, not only by connecting the dots in the Bible but by my experience. When I insist on going my own thing, I’ve opened my mind to the suggestions of evil and will do things that God hates. Some of such sin is subtle yet not always. Consider what it did to the nations in the OT:

“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:29–31)

The bottom line in this passage? Idol worshipers were killing their children because demonic forces were controlling their lives. Before I protest that this does not happen today, what about those who sell their children into the sex trade or those who abort them because having a child would interfere with doing their own thing?

Connecting these thoughts puts the people who honor God and God’s people into a line of blessing, but those who dishonor God and what is right have the power of evil on their side, a power that can lead to death and destruction. This is a profound vision of today’s world and gets Christians persecuted because no one wants to think that their choices to go their own way will result in a slide toward evil and destruction. This is not God’s wrath (yet) as much as the consequences of disobedience. It goes takes us into bad stuff.

APPLY: Weep. Ask God to show His people the danger of doing our own thing, both to ourselves and our nation. Also, seek His face and determine to go His way, not my own, in every area of life. Not only that, how can I show His great mercy and grace to those caught in this destructive trap?

 

 

 

 

What to do about the Herods in this world . . .

Some political leaders are easy to understand because they are open about their ambitions. Others are not, confusing people, even their supporters. This could be a political strategy but often it is about conflicted personalities and double-minded motivations.

Rather than the plethora of modern-day examples, I’m looking at Herod Antipas. He ruled from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39 as Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. During his reign, he heard about Jesus and thought it was John the Baptist raised from the dead. This notion reveals his emotional state after he had John put to death. John had told him he had unlawfully taken his brother’s wife. Yet Herod was afraid of the people who thought John was a prophet. Then he had a birthday party and that changed his mind again . . .

But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. (Matthew 14:1–12)

This ruler wanted John to die, didn’t want John to die, killed him, then was sorry that he died. He was indecisive and seemed not to care about John, only about who he impressed or pleased.

Later, this Herod planned to kill Jesus. When Jesus heard about it, He said, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.” (Luke 13:32) His remark shows His determination to do what God sent Him to do, regardless of the threats from a cunning and treacherous person. Quite the opposite person from Herod.

Herod was also ruling at the time of the crucifixion. Pilate and he were usually at odds, but when Jesus was arrested and Pilate heard that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod. Herod was glad to see Him because He wanted to see Him perform a miracle. He questioned him for a long time but Jesus did not respond. This suggests that Herod had no interest in justice, only in his own entertainment. His selfishness shows up over and over.

At that point, the chief priests and the scribes stood by, accusing Jesus. Then Herod with his soldiers treated Him with contempt and mocked Him also. They dressed Him in splendid clothing and sent Him back to Pilate. And “Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.” (Luke 23:7–12)

Verse 12 says much about human nature. When people are enemies, they can be united by something they agree on, in this case, how much they disregarded Jesus and all that He stands for. Both were willing to kill the Son of God because He interfered with their popularity and power over the people. Personal ambition marred their leadership skills. Personal ambition also put Jesus on the cross.

Mine too. I’m not Herod, but the Bible says: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Sin is simply doing my own thing. It separates us from God. It ruins lives. It makes idiots out of people created in the image of God. We go our own way and get in trouble, hurting ourselves and others. Politicians are not the only ones who are selfish and power-hungry. Sin makes us greedy for gain and insistent on proving our way is the right way. Sin drives us from pleasing God to pleasing people.

Of course I must deal with my own sin. Grace and faith brought forgiveness, but God’s intention goes farther; He wants to totally purge sin from my life. As He does, I become more able to pray for others, including politicians and world leaders, that they too would be brought into a saving relationship with the God they resist.

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Lord Jesus, our world needs righteous leadership. It is sadly lacking. You tell me to pray for those who rule, that they might be saved. I need to keep short accounts with You and be on ‘praying ground’ so am relying on You to convict me of sin that needs to be confessed and forsaken. I also need grace to obey You and grace to pray for those who hate You. I cannot change the world and its Herods, but I know that You can.

Whatever prevents fruit must go . . .

We once had a crabapple tree in our yard. The tree was large and when we moved in, it had been neglected for years. It had blossoms in the spring, but only a few. No fruit. I thought it needed another fruit tree for cross-pollinations but after a bit of research realized the nearby wild berry bushes were sufficient for that. Research showed that the tree needed to be pruned.

I learned that in the pruning process, the vinedresser first removes the larger dead branches and works his way to snipping off the smaller ones and anything that shows signs of disease or rot. If the tree is not producing fruit, this pruning can be severe. When I was finished with that tree, I wondered if it would ever grow again, never mind produce apples. However, after a season of rest, it flowered prolifically and gave us bushels of crabapples.

Perhaps this experience is part of why I love these words from Jesus:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1–5)

God’s pruning removes the dead, useless stuff in my life. I’m saved by grace, so salvation is not the purpose of pruning. It is to bring me to the place where I am abiding in Him continually, living in the power of the Holy Spirit and producing the fruit that only the Holy Spirit can produce. If I am abiding, the results are eternal; if not, they are useless.

This is obviously about sin, but sin runs deep. The pruning axe begins on the big, obvious stuff, but then God picks up pruning shears and removes attitudes and activities that other people might not even notice. Eventually He uses a scalpel to rid me of anything that could be described as ‘going my own way’ rather than listening to Him and doing what He tells me.

Today, I have plans for my household responsibilities. Doing laundry and sewing the label on a quilt cannot be called sin. BUT if God urged me to call someone or go visit a shut-in and I refused to do that in favor of my to-do list, then that unwillingness makes ‘doing my own thing’ a sin.

Oh my, just now, while writing this, someone just called —a crisis. All my plans just became unimportant. God wants me to pray, perhaps the entire day.

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Oh Jesus, I’ve nothing more to say as the caller asked me not to share this frightening news with anyone, just pray. My prayer begins with, “Nothing is too hard for You . . . .”