You Can’t Do it for Them

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done . . . But the people still followed corrupt practices. 2 Chronicles 27:2

I’ve written today’s blog before. I’ve even got another blog entry titled the same – You Can’t Do it for Them. Early this morning, I went back and reread that previous blog, just so I didn’t publish the exact same thing. It was a good entry, expounding on the truth that we can’t force others into faith or recovery. We’re responsible for our own behavior and for pointing the way to others, but we can’t have faith for anyone else, and we can’t find recovery for them.

This is the lesson of today’s passage. King Jotham of Judah did what was right, following God, but his people didn’t comply. They did their own thing and Jotham couldn’t make them be who they were supposed to be. It’s a painful lesson, but if we want to help anyone, we must realize we can’t help everyone.

As I was pondering the passage, I realized the reciprocal is also true. I can’t force others to follow God or be sober . . . But no one else can do it for me either. Jotham couldn’t force his people to follow God, so he was responsible for only one thing – following God himself.

And that’s the real lesson for me today. My job is to get up every day and do what’s right. If I got it wrong yesterday, then I must fix it today. I may practice addiction medicine, trying to serve others, but that’s not my first or primary job. My first job, every day, is to point my life at God, making all my decisions in that light. So today, and every day, I must focus on this truth. I was made to follow God and now, that’s what I must do. Then, I leave the results up to God. I can’t do it for them, and they can’t do it for me. I’m only useful to other’s lives if I’m living my own right. I can’t do it for others, but only in following God myself, can he use me to help anyone.