"Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."
Deuteronomy 12:8
Something that we have to confront a lot in our lives is our tendency to do whatever the crap we want to do rather than what is good, or right, or best for the world or for the people around us... and usually we even ignore what would be the best for ourselves, choosing instead whatever is easiest or most pleasing to the senses in that moment. Here, God tells us (we already knew, but he wants to get it out in the open) that the way that we typically make choices is a bad idea. Instead of doing whatever we want, we need to learn to make good decisions.
We somehow get it into our heads that free agency means that we should do whatever we feel like doing in the moment, or that freedom equals impetuousness. Instead, God teaches us that we need to take the consequences of our actions into account when we make choices. He warns us about them, providing guidelines to follow to avoid a lot of pain. Seriously, I think that encompasses a lot of the plan of salvation... God teaching us how to make good choices, helping to ameliorate the consequences when we screw up, and showing us how to overcome those mistakes and get back on track.
Today, let's take God's advice and avoid just doing whatever we want. Let's accept God's help and follow his guidelines so that we can avoid painful consequences and find our way.
Deuteronomy 12:8
Something that we have to confront a lot in our lives is our tendency to do whatever the crap we want to do rather than what is good, or right, or best for the world or for the people around us... and usually we even ignore what would be the best for ourselves, choosing instead whatever is easiest or most pleasing to the senses in that moment. Here, God tells us (we already knew, but he wants to get it out in the open) that the way that we typically make choices is a bad idea. Instead of doing whatever we want, we need to learn to make good decisions.
We somehow get it into our heads that free agency means that we should do whatever we feel like doing in the moment, or that freedom equals impetuousness. Instead, God teaches us that we need to take the consequences of our actions into account when we make choices. He warns us about them, providing guidelines to follow to avoid a lot of pain. Seriously, I think that encompasses a lot of the plan of salvation... God teaching us how to make good choices, helping to ameliorate the consequences when we screw up, and showing us how to overcome those mistakes and get back on track.
Today, let's take God's advice and avoid just doing whatever we want. Let's accept God's help and follow his guidelines so that we can avoid painful consequences and find our way.
No comments:
Post a Comment