On the 33rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me a ruler as a savior and king (Judges 4:4).
Some church folk are never satisfied. The pastor didn’t call their name. He didn’t put them on the committee. He didn’t let them preach. He didn’t take their advice. He didn’t support a casino trip. He preached too long. He preached too hard. He used the wrong bible. He didn’t wear the right suit. You know these people so you know I’m not exaggerating. In the eyes of some, the pastor just can’t seem to get it quite right for them.
This was the classic case with the children of Israel. They didn’t listen to their prophets; they snubbed their kings and gave their priests plenty to intercede for. In Judges we see “[i]n those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6). This thought repeats throughout the book, showing the depth of sin when there is no ruler present. They had judges who each served as a spiritual and political leader, but “[i]n those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). This pointed to the need for a savior and a king, not just an earthly one but one with supernatural power to help his people do what is right in the eyes of God. This savior-king is Jesus Christ.
Though Judges foreshadows Jesus as Savior-King, Jesus, like the judges of old, can’t be effective if we don’t have Him as king of our hearts. When we don’t have Jesus as King of our hearts we will do what is right in our own eyes, letting that strong black woman rule us. If we aren’t already, we will be those dissatisfied church folk who criticize everything about their pastor because the ultimate ruler doesn’t have the throne of our hearts. Please know that I am not saying we should blindly follow our spiritual leaders (Though if you are trying to plan a church trip to the casino and can’t see how your pastor’s disapproval is right, just follow him.). I am saying let Jesus reign supreme in our hearts. This way when we are dissatisfied with our leaders, more times than not our complaint will be legitimate and Jesus can guide us with how to handle our dissatisfaction. Let it be said that in our days there was King Jesus in our hearts and we did what was right in the eyes of God.
Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith