-April 6, 2023-
Good morning, happy Thursday,
“Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.”
(2 Chronicles 14:2).
Every day we make decisions that affect our lives and those around us. When we follow the Lord and do His will, our lives will be blessed. Asa was one of the good kings of Judah. David was the standard by which all the other kings were measured. Speaking of David, it says in 1Kings 15:5, “Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”
To please the Lord should be the goal of every believer. Only then can we represent our Lord clearly to those who are around us. The Lord sees, hears, and knows everything we do, good or bad. He sees into our hearts and knows our thoughts, motives, and desires. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” If we are to represent the Lord we must be godly examples, living according to His Word.
Israel did so well under Joshua, but after he and the elders who survived him died, they forsook the Lord. In the book of Judges there was a bad situation after another and God disciplined His people for their sin and used other kings and peoples to oppress them. God then raised up judges to deliver them. Their main problem was living independently of Him and worshipping idols. It says in Judges 17:6, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” We were never intended to follow the dictates of our own sinful hearts but to obey the Word of God.
Tony Evans tells of a story of a man who was having his windshield cleaned at a gas station. There are hardly any places that do this any more unless you take your vehicle to a full service car wash. The attendant cleaned the windshield but the man said, “Redo my windshield. That windshield’s as dirty as when you started.” The gas station attendant wiped it again. The man looked it over and then in frustration said, “My goodness! Can’t you even clean a windshield? This window has not changed.” The attendant did it again. By this time the man’s wife was fuming. She reached over, pulled off his glasses, wiped them and gave them back to him. The attendant had been doing his job correctly. The man himself was the problem. This happens with us: we can’t see correctly apart from the Word of God. It reveals us and exposes us.
May the Lord help us to see our lives through God’s eyes and do what is good and right in his eyes, not in the eyes of ourselves or this world. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.
Looking through God’s lenses,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 