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Day 71 or March 12. Homemade Religion. Our thought today is rooted in Judges 17 verse

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5. Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods, and

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installed one of his sons as his priest. First the big picture surrounding this verse.

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The final chapters of the book of Judges are not specifically about judges at all. It tells

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us a lot about a man called Micah who was not a judge, and who lived in the middle of

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Israel. As he lived and worshipped in the days when the judges ruled, there was no temple

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for national sacrifice and worship. The temple, of course, was built after the period of judges,

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when kings ruled the land. And now our action step for today. Micah,

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in the book of Judges, would have slotted into twenty-first century life very easily

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indeed. He knew what he believed, he built his own religion, and worshipped at home.

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I would guess there are millions of Micahs in the world today who stumble through life

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with homemade religion. I'm sure you know folk who drift from church to church looking

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for one that suits them exactly, and doesn't have any of the hassles we all get if we are

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members of an active fellowship. Sometimes when you discuss spirituality with a friend,

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the response can be very predictable. Well, this is how I see it.

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Based on what? Based on what I think is right. Even professing

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unbelievers will say things like, I'm sure he or she will be in heaven looking down on

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me today. These may be comforting thoughts, but they are based on wishful thinking alone.

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The least puff of wind will knock them over, because they are foundationless. For a belief

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system to work, it has to be based on a firm foundation, into which faith can be woven.

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Nebulous faith cannot stand alone. Be sure that your faith is based on sure and steadfast

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biblical principles, and it will enrich you daily. When trials come, as they inevitably

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will, you'll have more than human support. You will have the inspired written Word of

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God to rely on.