April 6

Judges 19:1-21:25

If the Bible had parental advisories on each section, today's reading would get a heavy R rating. We have rape, war, sexual immorality, chopping up of a body, lots of death, civil war, and kidnapping. Throughout the book of Judges, the nation of Israel has slowly drifted spiritually and now finds a vast chasm between them and God. They have stepped right into idolatry and sin in which the previous occupants of the Promised Land lived and were judged. The final verse of the book is an apt description; "everyone did as they saw fit" (Judges 21:25).

A slow drift from God may not seem obvious at first, but, if left unchecked, will lead us to the same places where Israel dwelt—places of selfishness, sin, and chaos. Judges should have taught Israel that anything other than God as king would lead them astray, but, as we will see when we begin 1 Chronicles, the lesson was never truly learned. We may also need to learn that same lesson. If we put anything other than God as our king, it will fail us; and if we allow anything other than God's commands to instruct us, we will wander astray.

Father God, help me to continually make you my only king. May you be the ultimate authority of my life and the one I seek to please. May I put your will and your desires above my own. Amen. 

What things can you do to keep God on the throne of your life?

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