Courtney Gilmore Just because something seems right to us, it doesn’t mean that it is. God determines what is good and right so we need to check with Him before we just decide we are doing the right thing. If it goes against any of God’s commands, then it’s obviously not what we should be doing.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Proverbs 14:12
Before one of his battles, King Saul offered sacrifices to God. This seemed right to him. But the problem was that it went directly against God’s command. There were rules around who could offer sacrifices and who could not. Also, Samuel, the prophet and priest, had told Saul to wait for him. It was his job to offer sacrifices, not Saul’s, and he also had some instructions to relay to him before he went into battle.
Going Against God’s Commands
Sometimes we don’t even check with God because our ideas make so much sense to us. We just assume He must agree. But His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) What seems right to us is often not right to Him. So, we always need to make sure our good deed lines up with God’s Word.
Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 12:28
Saul had been appointed as a king and it was his job was to lead the people in God’s ways. The people wanted their king to protect them from their enemies. But God wanted the king to lead His people by instruction of His Word.
Saul was trying to do Samuel’s job, while failing to do his own. The only thing he was tasked with was knowing and following God’s laws as a leader of the people. But by being impatient and not waiting for Samuel, he was not just preemptively offering a sacrifice, he was also ready move forward without a word from the Lord.
God Cares More About the Heart than the Action
The king was afraid of going into battle without the Lord’s favor. But the sacrifice itself isn’t what pleased God or brought His power into battle. God would have been pleased if Saul would have only shown a heart to listen and follow His instructions. He was missing the point of the sacrifice. His heart was directed inward and not towards God. Because of this, Saul lost his position as king.
So, even if there’s no command against it and our action is good, it still may not be what God wants us to do. We care about actions, but God cares more about the heart. The act itself is not what’s good or pleasing to Him. Even unbelievers do good things. That doesn’t set them right with the Lord or gain them any favor with Him. So, if we’re doing good deeds for our own glory or to receive something in return, they serve no godly purpose and are not pleasing to Him.
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 6:1
If we aren’t acting out of the goodness of our heart, in love for the Lord and our fellow man, then God might just cast us aside and use someone else who is. He doesn’t need our good deeds and they don’t make us righteous. Our righteousness comes from our faith not our deeds.
Righteousness Comes By Faith
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. But not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. To the one who does not work, but believe in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Romans 4:1-5
When we come to the end of our lives, the Lord will not ask what we did. He will ask who we believed in.
Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? Then will I declare to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell and the floods came. The winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell. Great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:21-27
Pleasing God
So, if you really want to please God, don’t just do good for goodness’ sake. Instead, listen and obey. Seek after His desires, not yours. Adjust your heart to His.
What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Links
You can Watch or Listen to all recent and future blog posts as devotions on LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions Channel on Podcast or YouTube and Substack.
This is inspired by “What Seems Right to You” when King Saul does what he thinks is right, even though it is against God’s commands in 1 Samuel 13. You can Watch or Listen to it on YouTube, Podcast, or study it on Substack.
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