Tuesday, September 1 2020 Devotional
"And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, 'Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David.' ...Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, 'Long live the king.'
...And when [Athaliah] looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, 'Treason! Treason!'"
-2 Chronicles 23:3, 11, 13
Our story from yesterday continues. Jehoiada the High Priest had been secretly raising the one remaining son of the Royal House of David, whom he and his wife had rescued when Athaliah, the boy’s grandmother, was murdering all the king’s sons so that she could reign instead. Now, after six years of her reign of terror, the time had come and they made seven-year-old Joash king.
Athaliah was so convinced that she was born to reign, so determined to keep the position she had stolen, that she called this treason! She tore her clothes, which is what people did to show their utter dismay when they heard or saw blasphemy.
Our sinful human nature is capable of convincing itself that we are doing the right thing, even when what we’re doing is dead wrong. We can feel self-righteous while committing murder, or while standing up to defend a perverted cause.
We argue, "How can it be wrong when it feels so right?" We tell people, "You can’t go wrong if you just follow your heart." We become convinced that a certain course of action is good and then we become willing to destroy anyone who gets in the way, convinced we’re doing the right thing.
But God has told us in His Word what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s not up to us to make those calls. Even when pursuing a truly good cause, we have to pursue it in God’s way, not according to the dictates of our own heart, our own feelings. Be ruled by the Holy Spirit, Who always works according to His Word and never contradicts it; not led by our feelings or twisted reasoning or by what’s currently the popular cause.
It pays to stop and check ourselves from time to time. Is what we’re doing what God would have us do, according to His Word? Are we doing it in His way?
Lord Jesus, what should I do? How should I go about it? Give me clear understanding of Your Word and keep me from being deceived by the devil, the world, and my own sinful flesh. Let Your Kingdom come in my life. Let Your will be done in the things I do, the words I speak, and the attitudes of my heart today. Amen.
Pastor Dan Giles