Recently I’ve been reading the book of Judges. Judges??? Does anyone REALLY read that book? It starts off in an interesting way: The Israelites enter the Promised Land, but don’t destroy all its inhabitants like God commanded. The Israelites start to mingle with the other nations, adopting their customs and form marriages with them. Soon they start worshipping their gods. You know God is going to have a problem with that! Haven’t they heard of the Ten Commandments? God had warned His people that if they worshipped idols, He would allow their enemies to overtake them. Kind of like your parents warning you that if you didn’t get your homework done, you wouldn’t be able to go with your friends to see a movie.
At this point though, the book of Judges gets redundant. The people are enslaved by their enemies, they cry out to God, God hears them and sends a judge to deliver them and the people worship God. But then time passes and they start worshipping false gods, God gives them over to their enemies, they cry out to God, He sends a judge to deliver them, they worship God. Then they start worshiping other gods, God gives them over to their enemies…you get the idea.
After awhile, you can’t help but wonder how stupid are these people? Why in the world would you not obey God? Why would you want to marry and worship the gods of people who are just going to turn around and stab you in the back? Duh!
Then I felt the Holy Spirit convict me. I have been commanded by God to take over the nations, not to kill them, but to introduce them to the One True God. As I’ve “mingled” with people (and sometimes I do tell them about Jesus), I have slowly taken on their EEDI god, the god of Everyone Else is Doing It. Have you noticed how powerful this god is? He determines what I eat, what activities I do, what movies I see, what magazines I read, how I talk, even what I wear! Some of these things are in direct contrast to what God says (and sometimes Gods voice sounds a lot like your parents).
Even if the god of EEDI doesn’t make you do anything wrong, allowing him to have a powerful hold on you is. ‘“Everything is permissible for me”-but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”-but I will not be mastered by anything.” (I Corinthians 6:12) This verse is saying that there are particular activities that are “permissible” or okay to do, but it may not beneficial to you. In fact, it may master you and “…a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” (2 Peter 2:19) You know you’ve become the slave of EEDI when you utter his words: Why can’t I? Everyone else is doing it!
In the book of Psalms (now THAT'S a book I like to read!) David comments on how the worship of this god progresses. “They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, [did not determine to change the world no matter the cost] but they mingled with the nations [the world] and adopted their customs. They worshiped their idols, [goddess of popularity, god of entertainment, god of EEDI] which became a snare to them.” (Psalm 106:34-36) Do you ever feel like the God of EEDI is a snare? Does he suffocate you? Perhaps deep down you could live without seeing that particular PG-13 movie, but the god of EEDI won’t allow you to survive socially without it! Maybe you don’t REALLY care what brand of shoe you wear, but the god of EEDI is turning you into a whining, disrespectful, bitter person until he gets what he wants. And you’re usually a really nice kid!
The cool thing I’ve learned about God in Judges is that no matter how often we turn from Him and worship other gods, when we cry out to Him, He will ALWAYS deliver us and forgive us. “But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry…out of His great love He lamented.” (Psalm 106:44, 45) I love God because is faithful and loving and forgiving, unlike the god of EEDI who honestly, doesn’t care a whole lot about me and not very committed to our relationship. Who would you rather serve, the god of EEDI who only loves you when you do what he says (and he’s constantly changing his mind) or the God who created You and loves you unconditionally? After reading Judges, I’m convinced that worshipping the One True God is the way to go!
Written by: Dawn Smith; copyright virtuousreality.com
