"King of My Life" February 25 Readings: Judges 17-21

  

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: Judges 17-21

Background:  

There is little uplifting or encouraging in this passage. It is the story of the degradation of Israel at its end stage, when the downward spiral of the cycle of Judges reached its nadir. Israel drifted away from God and then returned, but the direction was always downward, as is human nature, and finally, there was no obedience, no conscience, no fidelity to the God who brought them out of Egypt and gave them the Land of Promise as their inheritance. 

The last verse of the book describes the spiritual condition in a nutshell.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him. Judges 21:25

 

Daily Devotional: King of My Life

Do what you want.
Don't let anyone else bully you or control you.
Be your own person.

Our world values individualism and rebellion. The greatest horror is to let someone else control your life. "I gotta be me. I gotta be free."

Strange that the book of Judges uses precisely that concept to describe a society in the last stages of moral and spiritual decay.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him. Judges 21:25

This kind of moral independence and self-determination was not noble or honorable. It was an indication of depravity. It was a sign that Israel had rejected God and God's law to rule themselves. We were created to love God and to serve him, to bow the knee to him and obey him. 

Adam and Eve were seduced into sin when they were convinced that their lives would be better independent of God's law than in submission to him. Satan has been selling that same lie to people ever since. Obeying God will rob you of all your happiness, he says. God will make you miserable. 

Judges 17-21 tells us what happens when we turn from God to our own ways. Violence. Immorality. Inhumanity. Certainly, not everyone lives as openly and brazenly sinful lives as the Israelites did in these chapters, but when those who reject God set themselves on a course that will result in trouble. 

The Creator knows best how our lives should be lived. Independence from God is spiritually self-destructive. Love him and serve him because he deserves it, but love and serve him because it is the best way for you to live!

Yes, you need a king. King Jesus!

Father, may I never seek independence from you, the source of life eternal and life abundant. 

Consider God's Word:

Do you live in independence from God or do you recognize Jesus as the rightful king of your life?