ESOCS Devotional 1 August
TEXT: Judges 17: 1-13
MEMORY VERSE:
“And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.” JUDGES 17:3
There are many things in which people go against the commandments of God and sin; yet in their mind they think they are in the will of God. The mind of man is prone to deception and manipulations. It relates more comfortably with those things that are physical and emotional, and therefore easily loses focus on the things that are largely intangible. The things of God are first, intangible to man, seen and felt by faith before it manifests tangible results. That is why God in the Old Testament, demanded continual repetition and discussion of His laws. This is to reinforce it the mind of man; otherwise, it will stray in thoughts and result in sin.
The laws of God on idolatry and images are clear. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Ex 20:4). But Micah’s mother made a graven and a molten image and gave it to her son as a household god. The significant thing in this act is that she did it in honor of the Lord, for she said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image.”
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
In many things, we are like this woman. Laboring in things we believe are in the service of God or are properly in line with God’s approved paraphernalia of worship, whereas we may be far away from God and may be walking contrary to His will. In her heart, she is pious and committed to God; but the truth remains that every piety and commitment in the things of God will be misguided, wrongly applied, and amount to ungodliness, unless we first seek to know, understand, internalize, and remain in the truth of God as contained in His word. The word of God is God’s revelation of Himself and His will to man. It is His guide to man with which to operate, for every need and for every occasion. It is the manufacturers manual. For good and safe living; stay with it, stay on it.
CHALLENGES
- Is there anything you can relate with that makes you uneasy about this lesson?
- In what ways are they similar to the actions of Micah’s mother?
PRAYER POINT:
- Ask God to open your eyes on any issues that are of concern to you in the way you relate with Him
- Ask for the hunger to study the word of God and the grace to understand it.
FURTHER READING: Micah 4:1-16; 5:1–15; Mark 9:14-29; 9:30-50
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ESOCS Devotional 2nd August
