Christian Devotional – February 21, 2025

Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 21

Leave the King on the throne. Read Judges chapter 21.

As we finish out the book of Judges today, we read a chapter of solutions. You see with the Civil War that the Israelites fought in the last chapter, now they have a tribe that’s in danger of dying out. They realize they don’t want any single tribe to die out, and so they figure out a solution to be able to continue that tribe. Interestingly, they don’t consult God through any of it. They come up with these solutions to solve this problem entirely on their own. And while it does accomplish the purpose, it probably wasn’t exactly the best way to go about solving this problem. God may have had a different and better solution, but we don’t know, because they didn’t ask.

This verse that I have highlight today is the very last verse of the chapter, and the very last verse of the book. It describes the whole of the heart and the reason behind the entire rollercoaster of obedience and disobedience that the people of Israel had been on. It describes our disobedience when we are riding the rollercoaster.

Ultimately, we must keep the king on the throne of our heart. Jesus Christ must continue to be in charge and in control of our lives. When he isn’t, we will see the inconsistencies that come with a rollercoaster-type lifestyle of obedience to God. We’ll be up and then we’ll be down, and then we’ll be back up and then we’ll be back down. We must keep Christ on the throne of our heart and come to him for every decision, every circumstance, and every second of every day.

That is how we avoid the rollercoaster. If we are seeking him and allowing him to be in control, he will provide us the path that we need to be walking each and every day. How do we avoid the rollercoaster? Jesus Christ must be the Lord and King.

Video devotional here: https://youtu.be/ogvWSAkCCS0