Everyone Did As He Saw Fit

"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit." -- Judges 21:25

The last 5 chapters of Judges show us how bad the world can become when people quit looking to God as the source of reason and purpose for living.
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Chapters 17-18 tells the story of Micah, not to be confused with the prophet Micah, a man who built his own idols, hired his own priest, and set about taking worship from Shiloh where the ark of the covenant was and bringing it to his own house. Of course he was excited to have his own personal priest to go to the Lord on his behalf. The confusing situation that arose allowed the Danites to take everything from Micah, all that he had made and accumulated for himself, and left him with nothing. The Danites were war driven because their purpose had become hazy and eventually they turned to the same idolatry Micah had known -- all because there was no king and everyone did as they saw fit.
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Chapters 19-21 tell of the wickedness of the Benjamites and how they supported people in their land given to sexual promiscuity and homosexuality. Eventually, the raped concubine of the main character in the story died on the doorstep of the house where the master had thrown her out to assuage the passion of lust of the wicked men in the town. And it is fair to note that the woman had been unfaithful to the man; he had come to taker her home; and wound up with this fate. All this happened because there was no king and everyone did as they saw fit.
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Fast forward to 2008. It is odd to note that we have rulers, though not kings. We have religious leaders of all sorts and types and yet we are a little different people from the days we saw when Israel had no king and everyone did as they saw fit; they just plain do as they see fit.
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Evidence exhibit 1: Look at the number of people who have been part of Christianity who choose not to be. They choose not to take a stand with their lives, and even with their Sundays.
Evidence exhibit 2: What about the murders and theft that have lately seen in our world.
Evidence exhibit 3: What about homosexuality and the way it has won over the world though nobody really seems to like it except the homosexuals.
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We can go on to Evidence exhibit "next", as Perry Mason says in the made for TV movies, and keep going on to the next and many people don't seem to care. And it is the result of people doing what they see fit. What a shame? Where is the church in taking a stand before the world in these matters?
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Sure, we might be laughed at; but the power of God still stands and we must to. We know the end will come and we have God's assurances that things will go strangely. May we make a difference always and be visible on behalf of the kingdom.
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Dear God, we live in a strange world where the right is called wrong and the wrong is called right. Help us to get our priorities straight and serve Jesus. In His name, Amen.