“EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES!”

 Judges 17:1-6                                                (ESV)

“1 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

2 And he said to his mother, "The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD."

3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, "I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you."

4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.

5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel. “EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES!!!”

We each are led on a JOURNEY in life.  What we accomplish on our JOURNEY is NOT determined by our earthly success.  This “Micah” was different than the Prophet Micah, who wrote in Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your GOD?”  This Micah stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his own mother!  After returning the money his mother gave almost 20% of it to an idol maker and told him to form him a carved image?  He had stolen something from his own mother and was rewarded with 20% of what he returned to her???

To say that “EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES” was almost laughable!  This man even hired a stranger, a Levite, and said “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."  This man had exhibited no traits worthy of Priesthood, but he was a Levite and Micah saw the opportunity to appease what others thought about him????

In 1 Corinthians 7:17 the Apostle Paul writes “Only let each person lead the life that the LORD has assigned to him, AND TO WHICH GOD HAS CALLED HIM. This is my rule in all the churches.”  We must know that ALMIGHTY GOD isn’t impressed with our pedigrees nor our titles.  GOD has a PLAN for each person, and you can rest assured that stealing from others, ESPECIALLY YOUR MOM, isn’t something that GOD HONORS!  This Micah “DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES” and never considered searching for GOD!

Are we any better than this Micah?  Do we do what is best IN OUR OWN EYES instead of searching for the will of GOD for our lives?  “The heart is deceitful above all things, and DESPERATELY SICK; who can understand it?” is written in Jeremiah 17:9.  Unless we are following THE CLOUD (Exodus 13:21-22), we are trusting in the wrong thing!  “EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES” is NOT what I want said about me when I am at the Judgment Seat!  My prayer is that I will be an example of following THE CLOUD and not my own desires!!!