A SLIPPERY SLOPE

DAY 115: I am blessed to have relationships with several college students.  It is a joy to be part of their lives at a time of so many opportunities.  It is also a HUGE responsibility to be sure that I am offering them sound advice and putting their focus where it should be - on God. So while having fun  with them (i.e., eating, shopping, movies...) is part of our relationship, telling them what they NEED to hear is what benefits them the most.

Not long ago one "my girls" who recently graduated came back to town for a job fair. She is employed but isn't working in her chosen field- teaching.  God has been opening the doors in the past few weeks in that area and she has had to balance her current job with job interviews. As we talked she shared that she was afraid to tell her boss that she needed time off for interviews, even though they knew when they hired her that she hoped to find a teaching job when one came available.

She was considering the merits of what she called a "general lie" so as not to upset anyone.  She wondered if she could just ask off "for an appointment."  She has several "appointments" coming up.  As we talked about it, it became obvious to her that if she told a "general lie" that seemed harmless, she would then have to tell more "specific lies" if any questions were asked.  Then, when she got a job, she would have to tell even more lies about how and when she got it.  It would most certainly be a slippery slope.

In the end, she decided that God would honor honesty, even if it came with risks.  She was willing to trust God with her integrity rather than trust herself with deception. We prayed for favor and she called her boss and explained that she had a teaching interview available and asked for time off.  Her boss was thrilled for her and told her taking time was no problem.

It was a small faith lesson, but important none the less.  It is so much better to take the risks of walking with God than willingly climb on to a slippery slope of what seems right in our own eyes.

That slippery slope is illustrated in the next two chapters of Judges from today's reading. The story takes place when there was no king and no judge in Israel, but they did have His laws. Still "people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes."  The story starts with a man named Micah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.  Here is what happened:

• Micah's mother discovers that 1100 pieces of silver have been stolen from her.
• Micah overhears his mother call a curse on the unknown thief.
• Micah confesses to his mother that he is the thief who took her 1100 silver coins.
• Mom does the unexpected - she praises Micah for confessing rather than seeking punishment.
• Against God's law, Mom uses 200 of the silver coins that she dedicated to the Lord to create an idol with the image of her son.
• Against God's law, Micah set the idol up in his house and added a shrine, a sacred ephod and some other household idols and worshiped there. 
• Against God's law, Micah made one of his son's a personal priest.

Soon, this family's choices snowball and bring ruin to many more.

• A Levite, who is a direct decedent of Moses, comes to town looking for a place to live.  
• Micah offers him money and invites him to become his own personal priest since he is from the legitimate priestly tribe.  
• Against God's law, the Levite accepts. 
• Micah, doing what he thought was right in his own eye's, wrongly declares" "I know the Lord will bless me know because I have a Levite serving as my priest."

It only gets worse.

• Warriors from the tribe of Dan, who still had not conquered or occupied the land God had given them as their inheritance, shows up at Micah's scouting better land.  
• When they meet Micah's "personal priest" they ask him to ask God if they will be successful in their journey to find new land - even though they are disobeying by rejecting their God-given land.  
• When the Levite gives them the answer they want, they go forward and invade a peace-loving unprotected people, slaughtering them to take their land.  
• Against God's law, the warriors of Dan convince the Levite to leave Micah and become the personal priest of their entire tribe.  
• The Levite goes with the Danites and takes Micah's idols with him.

The final result: "So Micah's carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle of God remained in Shiloh." Judges 18:31

I don't need to point out the multitude of mistakes that everyone in this story made as they rejected God's revealed will and did what they thought was right.  What is remarkable is how the first mistake began the slippery slope.  Micah's mother refused to offer correction to her son and instead was responsible for the idolatry of her son, which led to corrupting her son's household, strangers, and eventually an entire tribe. Yet everyone involved in the story also claimed to worship the true God.  Sadly, choice after choice led them far from Him as they acted in contradiction to His revealed will for His people.  A slippery slope indeed. 

As my young friend and I discussed, and as Micah's story illustrates, God will allow us to make our own choices, but we should not be surprised when they lead us, and maybe others, unexpectedly far from Him.

Flirting. Partial truths. Laziness. Cheating. Dishonest gain. Gossip. Indulgence . Complaining. Greed.  

God knew that I needed the warning that every one of these compromises is a stepping stone that can put me on a path away from God. To think that "it won't hurt this once" is to risk being on the slippery slope.

Day 115 of 365
Judges 17
Judges 18
John 3:1-21
Psalm 104:1-23
Proverbs 14:20-21