It’s tempting to curve my religion towards my own ends. I want God’s blessings, even if I don’t necessarily want to follow the ways of God. I hope to enjoy divine goodness on my terms.

A lady in ancient Israel had the same idea. She worked a plan to benefit her and her less-than-honest son:

There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image.

Notice the problem? This woman dedicated her newly found silver (stolen by her sweet boy) to the Lord, but in the same breath commissioned a carved image. This in direct opposition to the commandment which states: You shall not make for yourself a carved image.

She borrowed this idea from the surrounding religions, hoping for a boost to set her ahead. But the law of Moses failed to register. Or, perhaps it seemed restrictive, outdated even. Regardless, she fashioned her own synchronistic religion. This woman spoke of the Lord, but failed to follow him.

I can live the same way. I mention God in my prayers while ignoring the ways of life found in his book. A bulging bank account or 401K replaces a carved image. It’s hard to depend solely on God, seemingly impossible in some ways. We all seek the crutches of this world—money, security, notoriety, success, and on and on.

Don’t miss the point. The Lord is clear—follow him first and ditch the shiny images. Make his ways your ways, and a flourishing live follows—even if the flourishing turns out different or harder than you expect.

Judges 17:1-6

Photo by Micaela Parente