As we enter autumn, many people begin to assess this year and make plans for next year. But in such an uncertain world, how do we find our way? This month, we’ll be focusing on God’s will and decision-making. This third devotion warns us of the major challenge we have in aligning our decision-making with God:

IN WORD – While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law—which began with commandments against worshiping false gods—the recently redeemed people of the covenant were at the bottom of the mountain making a false god. Despite an overwhelming body of evidence that the transcendent God of the universe had powerfully delivered them from Egypt and promised them a land of their own, they decided that a few days with an absent leader nullified their salvation history. The God who had redeemed them couldn’t be found; they would just have to make another one. That’s the tendency of the human heart. We want a God who is accessible, a God we can see and touch and taste. And when the true God offers us Himself, “accessible” turns to “intrusive.”
What we really wanted was a god we could manage. That’s more comfortable. We don’t really want God to lead us through the wilderness on His terms; we want a god we can drive through the wilderness on our terms. We’re content to live with the illusion of faith. It’s a small price to pay for our autonomy. But it always turns out to be a huge price, much more devastating than we’d thought. No matter where we choose to put our faith, and no matter who we credit with our deliverance, it turns out that there’s only one truth and only one Deliverer. Truth is not a personal choice. Truth is true, whether we follow it or not.
IN DEED – We live in an age of relativism. If the true God is too absent—or too present—for us, we’ll just make one that “works” for us. That way, our god can command us only what we want him to command us. And we can follow him only when it makes sense for us to follow him. That’s the antithesis of worship. That’s self-worship, the worst form of pride, and the worst form of self-deceit. Know the human tendency to make our own idols, and resist it every day. Never try to “manage” God. When we invent our own ideas of God, we simply create Him in our own image. – “Kenneth F.W Prior (in “Worship the King” by Chris Tiegreen)

If you have never read the book of Deuteronomy, take time this week to understand what God desires, specifically chapters 4, 27 – 30. In these chapters, Moses challenged the Israelites as they were about to enter the Promised Land to maintain the privilege to live in the land.
Today, this same God calls on us to have the same reverence and to give Him the same sovereignty over our lives. It is in following His will that we will enjoy His greatest blessings. Have a blessed week! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam