22nd.: You Took My Gods!
In the book of Judges (part of the historical books of the Bible), a man named Micah,
took 200 shekels of silver to make a a silver god (Judges 17:3).
Micah later hired a man from the Levite tribe to be his private priest.
He then 'patted himself on the back',
“Now I know that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to [be] my priest.” (Judg. 17:13).
Sometime after hiring the Levite, a group of Danites, took the Levite away, and stole Micah’s fake gods.
Micah confronted them,
“Ye have taken away my gods, which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away, and what have I more?” (Judg. 18:24).
Micah knew of the Lord, but only in a cultural sense.
In actuality, he had no relationship with the Lord.
He did not seek the Lord, or try to spend time with the Lord.
Rather, he used many religious terms which his ancestors had used. Expressions such as:
1. Wholly dedicated the silver to the Lord’,
2. The Lord will do me good.
But he did not understand what those terms meant.
Likewise, many modern day Christians grow up in church.
They know Bible lingo.
But they are not genuinely reconciled to the Lord.
Therefore, we are encouraged to,
“Examine yourself, whether ye be in the faith.” (2nd Cor. 13:5a).
Use prayer to be reconciled to the Lord.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” (Rom. 8:14, 16)