Evaluation

Isaiah 65:12 ESV

I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, Because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 16:21 ESV

And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes…

As the year is coming to a close news sources across the board are putting the year in review. One of the myriad of ways this transpires is by reviewing which notable, famous, and infamous, people have died over the last year. Along with giving reasons they are notable, for those of us who have never heard of the names, often there is attached an evaluation of sorts upon these individuals. This year’s list has definitely yielded many people of note and repute. As the list goes by, many individuals whose life work are nothing if not steeped in sin roll by. Depending on the news source the evaluation of them is favorable or not, but that is when Christians have to arrive at the words of God through Isaiah the prophet.

Isaiah 65:12 ends with the words “you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.” This stands in stark contrast to the ending words of the book of Judges “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The contrast is stark, who’s opinion matters? As many will tell Christians to do what “feels” right to them, we must recognize that only one opinion matters, only one evaluation matters, that being of God himself. The Judge’s eyes are all that matter. Samson’s life is one fraught with glory and betrayal, of reckless sinful decisions and great faithfulness. Yet, in the midst of his life, God, in his sovereignty, had his eyes taken from him. Given the scathing rebuke at the end of the book, we can assume that this humiliation is the reason we still find God’s evaluation of his faith in Hebrews 11 as favorable.

R.C. Sproul left the congregation of the saints on earth this last year to join the congregation of saints at the feet of his savior. One of his quotes that reverberates in my ears, “The only way sinners can get past the gates of heaven is by wearing the robes of somebody else’s righteousness.” The eyes of God must see Christ’s righteousness, not our own. This is how a sexually immoral man like Samson can be called a hero of the faith. Because his eyes were taken from him that he might put on Christ’s righteousness and be seen in it alone.  Let us not fall into the enemy’s trap of looking at legacies, either ours or someone else’s, from any perspective but that of scripture, that is the eyes of Christ. In the end that is the only perspective that matters, what history or future generations think of us is inconsequential next to the words “well done good and faithful servant.”

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO