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Throughout history, when God's people decided to "do it themselves" and refused the Lord's
kingship and leadership, it wasn't long before they paid dearly for their folly. They chose
to reject God as their King. This led to oppression which the Lord allowed from "spoilers,"
and then they cried out for deliverance. They were sent a deliverer to relieve their misery
and that cycle was often repeated in the Old Testament. This should be warning enough for us
today, but is it?
A few years ago, a movie entitled, God Is My Copilot was quite popular. Many people at the time chose that title as a demonstration of their devotion to God. Later in life, as some people matured, some of us changed the wording to "God Is My Pilot," giving proper place to our Maker and King. Being copilot is second place — a position the Lord will not accept in our lives. Long ago, Gideon refused to rule over the people because "God was supposed to be their king" (Judges 8:23). God told Samuel, "Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them" (1 Sam. 8:7). One of the saddest phrases in the Bible — recorded several times in Judges — is, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6). A quick reading of this sounds good, but let's look a bit closer. God expects to be the king of our lives. We even acknowledge that fact in many songs, but when we observe all the "foreign things we do in worship to Him" it's obvious that we hold the kingly position ourselves and the things which "we authorize" are not found in His word. These come from the many different "think sos," "I feel," "it seems to me," and "my opinion on that is..." Each time we insist on doing what is "right in our own eyes" we reject God as our King and relegate Him to copilot, only calling on Him when we have a dire need. We act as if God didn't know what He was saying through the prophets; "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23). "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 16:25). Doing that which is "right in our own eyes" is "walking by sight" and taking control of our own destiny. This position proved disastrous to Israel in the Old Testament and should cause us to give more earnest heed to the things "written aforetime" which Paul says were "written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4). Christians are to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7), and that means we must walk according to the things our King has written for our learning. It means we must as surely listen to and obey His mandates as did His Only Begotten Son (Heb. 5:8-9). Can we do anything less and still have the full assurance that His leading will take the faithful to that home prepared for those who "love His appearing?" Who is really your pilot? |