You be the judge...

I've been the judge of a few contests, I had a say in the decision about the outcome.  I've made many other judgments, decisions about what was best in a situation.  Many of my judgments have simply been guesses. Some of them dreadfully wrong.

We often say to each other, "you be the judge".  I wonder if we aren't simply passing the buck or maybe challenging one another's decisions. 

Joshua more or less said it the the people of Israel.   "...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.." (Joshua 24:15 NIV). He challenged them to judge for them self whether obedience to the God of heaven was the right thing to do, and brought them to a crisis of decision whether or not they would in fact follow His direction.  

I wonder if we think its ok to judge for ourself about every thing.  While it is true that God has given us freedom to choose for ourselves, judging for ourselves is not a good idea.  We lack the criteria to make good judgments, it is vital to have Him involved in every aspect of our being.  Jeremiah most likely was weeping when he said, "LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps." (Jeremiah 10:23 NIV)

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:7-9 NIV)

When we judge for ourselves without the guidance of our Creator, we make our judgments based on shaky criteria...our own human heart.  And worse, we set ourselves up as god of our own lives, pushing aside the council of the Almighty.  When we turn to self, we are turning away from Him.  When we decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong, we are idolaters worshipping our selves.

I purpose to give up my option to judge right and wrong, good and evil.  I purpose to judge for myself about only one thing..whom I will serve.  I purpose to leave the how of that up to Him and trust that He will show me at the appropriate time.  And when He does, I purpose in my heart to obey.  

In the meantime, I purposefully seek His Face, His heart, and search His Word. 

Get rid of....

Unwanted.  Removed. And glad of it...

I've heard people say they got rid of a lot of things.  We rid ourselves of things that have become useless or problematic.  We want to be rid of difficult people. We try to be rid of stressful situations.  We rid ourselves of things we don't need or use, things that clutter our lives and our homes.  And we feel quite liberated when we do rid ourselves. 

I know people who won't get rid of anything.  And I know people who will rid themselves and everyone else of whatever looks useless to them, regardless of whether anyone consents, I'm prone to do it myself!!

There is lots of stuff I need to get rid of.  Lots of things I need to let go of.  I put it off, but I always feel like a weight is lifted when I do get rid of things.  My kids won't know how thankful to be some day if I do get rid of the accumulated assortment of things that won't mean a thing to them. 

God has given us instructions about some things to get rid of.  Like my collections of stuff that I hang on to, I can hang on to things in this list, butive learned that He is always right and whatever He says is for a very good reason.  I don't want to hang onto things and wind up finding out the why of His instructions. 

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.." (Ephesians 4:31 NIV)

"So get rid of everything evil in your lives—every kind of wrong you do.."

 (James 1:21 ERV)

Some of the things I need to rid myself of are things I would really like to keep.  But I know they are weighing me down, taking up space, and perhaps reminding me of days past that will never return.  Spiritually, some of the things I need to rid myself of are also things I want to hang on to.  

I purpose to keep ridding myself of what God says needs to go.  He is always right.