Turn from Your Wicked Ways

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Early voting began this morning. For those in the political realm, it is the beginning of the end for the elections cycle. On the other hand, for those more interested in policy than politics, the election in two weeks will represent the end of the beginning of the legislative process.

Have you noticed that while the motivation behind this devotional was to seek God's face on behalf of our nation, there has been little time spent on "the headlines." So far, things have not improved. We still have a health care bill we do not understand and cannot afford. We are losing personal liberties on a daily basis. Our national deficit promises to plague our children's children. And, every economic indicator is shouting out warnings of what lies ahead.

But, don't let the news distract you. Those issues are not the problem. They are only the symptoms that are a result of the underlying decay caused by our failure to turn from our "wicked ways." "Wicked ways" is an incredibly politically incorrect concept in today's society. But, we all understand the concept. Our wicked ways are the things we are doing that we shouldn't be doing.

Unlike God, who was able to put His expectations down on a couple of stone tablets, there are currently over 50 title of federal statutes, representing countless pages of expectations of behavior. In addition to the federal statutes, there are another 25 feet of book shelf space writings in federal administrative expectations. Then, we have all the state statutes and local ordinances to deal with. How realistic is it for a person to keep up with all those laws?

Well, for the devotional purposes, I am going to give you a pass on everything that was not on God's top 10 list. If you will just take care of those areas of your life, the rest of the stuff generally falls into place. So, just for review, here's the list:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
   
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
   
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
   
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
   
5. Honor your father and your mother.
   
6. You shall not murder.
   
7. You shall not commit adultery.
   
8. You shall not steal.
   
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
   
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
    

So if we had a pop quiz on how you are doing on the top 10, how would you score?

Lord, help me to see my actions as You see them. Please give me the gift of conviction and repentance in those areas of my life which are not pleasing to You.