Did you know that you can lie to yourself? That’s scary, isn’t it? But what’s even scarier is you can make yourself believe your lie.
Do you remember the time in Israel’s history when they decided they wanted a king
(I Samuel 8-10)? The Bible makes it clear that the reason they wanted a king was because they wanted to be “like all the other nations”. The desire to “fit in”… to be like those around us – is a powerful motivation. But recognizing that such motivation conflicts with God’s requirement “Come out from among them, (Don’t live like the world),” we want to legitimize our action by finding more acceptable reasons.
Israel found such reasons. First, “You (Samuel) are old and your sons do not walk in your ways.” Second, one of their neighbor-nations was threatening to invade them.
Interestingly, both the reasons were true. But these reasons did not justify their rejection of God. While I’m sure they would have strongly protested that wanting a king didn’t mean they were rejecting God, that’s what God said it was. (I Samuel 8:7).
I’m confident, as the people discussed this matter among themselves, they persuaded themselves that their reasons for wanting a king were noble. They legitimized their selfish desire. In truth, they used some facts to deceive themselves about their true motivation.
God gave them a king. But he came with a caveat – The motivation that causes you to want a king is the same motivation that will cause you to want an idol! It did . . . even though they swore it wouldn’t.
We become comfortable in self-deception when we ignore the mirror. “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
Looking into the mirror of God’s word enables us to see ourselves through God’s eyes.
-Ken Stegall