Our Orientation to God and His Will
If we are disoriented, we are confused, so that we do not see things according to reality. We can be physically disoriented when we are lost. We do not know which way to go. That is a serious situation, but spiritual disorientation is the most serious problem we can have. If we do not know what the Lord wants us to do, we can't be right with Him. When we are spiritually disoriented, we are going in the wrong way, and we don't even know it. In King Hezekiah's day the people were disoriented to God and His will. They thought wrong was right. Hezekiah had to come to lead them to be oriented to the Lord correctly.(II Kings 18:3,4)
Hezekiah did what his ancestor, King David, had done, and he followed the law that Moses had recorded. That kept him oriented to God in the right way. The people lost their orientation to God by worshiping idols and forsaking God's way. Look at what they were doing. They were worshiping the Bronze Thing, the bronze serpent God told Moses to make in the wilderness to stop the plague of God on the people. It was meant for one thing. They were to look at it, and God would heal them. It was simply an act of faith, and God blessed them for trusting Him. Now, they were burning incense to the Nehushtan, the bronze thing. How could they ever think that was the right thing to do? They were totally disoriented to God. They thought that would please God and help them, even though it was clearly against God's commandments and what David had taught them. Hezekiah had a huge challenge to get their orientation right.
Today, we see Christians having similar problems, because they are disoriented to God and His will. We see people worshiping a pastor or an evangelist, instead of the Lord. We see people thinking that God wants us to be well and rich all of the time, when that is obviously not scriptural. We see people paying money for prayer cloths and wearing religious jewelry, thinking that will heal them or protect them. We must help people see that God wants us to give all of our devotion and worship to Him, not to people or objects. We must follow His Word, not the teachings of men. If we lose our orientation to God and His will, we could be doing the opposite of what He wants, and still think we are doing the right thing.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 19-22.
Hezekiah did what his ancestor, King David, had done, and he followed the law that Moses had recorded. That kept him oriented to God in the right way. The people lost their orientation to God by worshiping idols and forsaking God's way. Look at what they were doing. They were worshiping the Bronze Thing, the bronze serpent God told Moses to make in the wilderness to stop the plague of God on the people. It was meant for one thing. They were to look at it, and God would heal them. It was simply an act of faith, and God blessed them for trusting Him. Now, they were burning incense to the Nehushtan, the bronze thing. How could they ever think that was the right thing to do? They were totally disoriented to God. They thought that would please God and help them, even though it was clearly against God's commandments and what David had taught them. Hezekiah had a huge challenge to get their orientation right.
Today, we see Christians having similar problems, because they are disoriented to God and His will. We see people worshiping a pastor or an evangelist, instead of the Lord. We see people thinking that God wants us to be well and rich all of the time, when that is obviously not scriptural. We see people paying money for prayer cloths and wearing religious jewelry, thinking that will heal them or protect them. We must help people see that God wants us to give all of our devotion and worship to Him, not to people or objects. We must follow His Word, not the teachings of men. If we lose our orientation to God and His will, we could be doing the opposite of what He wants, and still think we are doing the right thing.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 19-22.