What seems right in our own eyes.

 

Judges 17:6  In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

There was no one to hold them accountable, guide them, instruct them, etc.  The Biblical record records what happened.  People chased after the gods of the pagan nations.  They practiced all kinds of evil.  They treated God with little or no respect.  They ignored God’s instructions and did not seek Him at all unless they were under great distress.  They often ridiculed and even killed God’s prophets.  Life was a mess and made for miserable living.  They shut God out and had no one to turn to for help.

Left to ourselves we will do what seems right in our own eyes.  Considering that we were born into the darkness of sin and without God’s intervention we can only see darkness, is it any wonder that we get into all kinds of trouble with God?  What seems right to us is usually far from what is right to God.  We reap what we sow.  When we do what we want and not what God wants for us, we make a royal mess of life.  The absence of God is fertile soil for evil to grow and flourish.

The Lord has not left us without a witness.  He has clearly shown us a way to live that is not of our own making.  God is all around us showing us a better way to live.  He declares loudly for all to hear, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”  He reminds us over and over again that when we do what is right in our own eyes, we will self-destruct.  We are not capable of living righteously on our own.  We need a Savior and a Lord.