Again

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 9:22-11:28

Judges 10:6

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him.

We all encounter times of temptation and testing. We have moments when we are misguided and misled. Our journey is riddled with times when we are deceived and duped into foolish folly. Like the Israelites, we find that we “again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD”. This is not merely the practice of a Christless culture, but the particular behavior of the people of God. It is nothing less than saints sinning.

Notice the simple word “again” in the text. This is not the first time. This is not the original offense. This is not the initial iniquity. They had gone this way before. They made a routine out of rebelling. It was their habit. It was the pattern of God’s people. They had a cycle of straying.

The text gives us some clues as to what caused this cycle. First, they devalued God’s directives. They “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”. God had given them standards to live by. He had told them what was good and pleasant in His sight. He also showed them what was deplorable and depraved. He gave them His word to guide them into a vibrant and flourishing relationship with Him. But they began to despise His directives. They sensed that they we irrelevant and irrational mandates. They saw them as antiquated and archaic. They began to view them as constraints. They were considered counter to the cultural. The gods of the culture did not have such constricting commands. They offer the freedoms and lifestyle that God’s people felt they had the right to enjoy. They offered pleasure without parameters. They promised unfettered enjoyment. They came to the conclusion that following God’s guidelines would hinder their happiness and forfeit their fun. They perceived that life would be better without God’s laws. When we devalue God’s directives we stray again and again.

Second, they discarded Godly disciplines. The Lord has set forth spiritual disciplines that help us to grow in Godliness. They are designed to assist in the process of eradicating fleshly desires and establishing a flourishing faith. They are the means of our sanctification. They include studying scripture, prayer, scripture memory, worship, witnessing, and many other ways of seeking and serving the Lord. They text tells us they “served the Baals . . . and did not serve the Lord.” They stopped serving God to serve the gods of the surrounding culture. Serving God is not just about helping in the nursery or being an usher, it is about disciplining yourself for the purpose of godliness. When spiritual disciplines decline disobedience arises. When the flesh is left unchecked and unconstrained folly follows. When we discard spiritual practices and stop seeking and serving the Lord we stray again and again.

Finally, they diverted their devotion. The Lord had abundantly blessed them. He loved them, He looked out for them and He lavished His goodness upon them. They were blessed beyond measure. For a time, they desired Him and delighted in Him. They found their joy in Him. Their focus was on pleasing Him and they faith was planted in Him. But things changed. Their allegiance shifted. They were no longer satisfied with their sovereign. Their desire for Him diminished and their delight in him dissolved. Their love for Him languished and their heart grew cold and callous toward Him. He wasn’t what they wanted and He wasn’t doing what they expected of Him. So, their devotion toward Him dwindled. It was diverted to gods of their own making that they thought could provide what they wanted. They “forsook the Lord” and sought their satisfaction in stone statues of the surrounding culture. When we divert our devotion away from the Lord we stray again and again.

This is a harsh warning to heed. We must stop the “gods” of the culture from drawing us into the cycle of straying again and again by adhering to God’s directives, advancing in spiritual disciplines and adoring the Lord. Today make this your persistent passion and prayer. The Christian life is full of moments of misdirection, but Christ is full of manifold mercy. Always find your satisfaction in Christ and you won’t look for satisfaction in another.