Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is Judges 17:7-9.

"Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, 'Where do you come from?' And he said to him, 'I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.'" — Judges 17:7-9

Micah's story takes another turn when a wandering Levite shows up. This young man has the right background, the right bloodline, and the right credentials—and Micah sees his chance. Maybe if he brings a Levite into his house, it'll make his homemade religion look legitimate.

Micah's faith was hollow, but this priest-for-hire could make it look holy. He didn't want to change his heart; he wanted to polish his appearance. That's what borrowed faith does—it looks spiritual from the outside but lacks life on the inside.

And if we're honest, a lot of believers today are living on borrowed faith. We lean on our pastor's passion, our parents' prayers, our spouse's convictions. We admire other people's intimacy with God instead of pursuing our own. We've mastered secondhand spirituality—reading popular Christian living books instead of Scripture, reposting verses instead of living them, attending church instead of being the church.

Borrowed faith looks convincing—but it collapses when tested. Because borrowed faith can get you through a sermon, but not a storm. It can quote Scripture but won't stand on it. It's the illusion of devotion without the evidence of obedience.

That's exactly what Micah was doing. He wanted to hire holiness—to buy credibility without surrender. He invited a Levite into his home, but he never invited the Lord into his heart. And what started as borrowed faith soon became broken faith.

This story is a reminder and a warning for us. Whole generations have been raised near faith but not in it. We've confused proximity with intimacy, attendance with relationship, influence with anointing. But God can't be subcontracted. You can't borrow someone else's righteousness or lease someone else's conviction.

The only faith that lasts is the faith you actually live. So go live it.

ASK THIS:

1. Whose faith have you been borrowing instead of developing your own?
2. Do you find more comfort in looking spiritual than in obeying God?
3. When was the last time your personal time with God shaped your decisions, not just your emotions?
4. What would it take for your faith to become firsthand again?

DO THIS:

• Identify one area where you've been relying on borrowed faith—church, parents, friends, or leaders.
• Replace it with firsthand obedience this week. Pray, study, and apply truth yourself.

PRAY THIS:

Father, I don't want to live on borrowed faith. I don't want secondhand conviction or part-time obedience. Teach me to know You firsthand—to walk with You daily, not through someone else's devotion, but through my own surrender. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Run to the Father."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is Judges 17:5-6:

"And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." — Judges 17:5-6

Micah's home has now turned into a shrine. What began as a sentimental blessing has become a full-blown counterfeit religion. He makes an ephod, sets up household gods, and ordains his own son as priest. He's no longer just bending the rules—he's building a new religion entirely.

This is what happens when personal compromise becomes public culture. Verse 6 gives us the diagnosis for an entire generation: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." When you remove God's authority, all you're left with is opinion. And opinion, when elevated to truth, becomes clutter.

Micah's story is ancient, but it sounds painfully modern. We live in an age of "Build-A-God" spirituality. People pick and choose beliefs like toppings on a pizza—keep the love, lose the wrath; keep the grace, ditch the repentance. We want a faith that feels personal but never confronts. We call it authenticity, but it's really autonomy in disguise.

We see it everywhere. "I'm spiritual, not religious." "My truth is my truth." "God just wants me to be happy." These are the slogans of a society that has traded holiness for self-help and discipleship for self-discovery.

And here's the danger: customized faith always leads to counterfeit worship. When you decide what's right for you instead of what's true before God, you stop worshiping Him—you start worshiping you. Micah built a religion that worked for him, but it couldn't save him.

The same is true for us. A God who always agrees with you can't change you. A faith that never offends you will never transform you. The real God draws lines because He loves us. He sets boundaries because He knows what sin destroys.

Micah's shrine wasn't just a problem of misplaced silver—it was a problem of misplaced worship. He didn't stop worshiping; he just switched the object. And that's what happens to us when we treat faith like a mirror instead of a window—we stop seeing God and start seeing ourselves.

We don't need a God who works for us—we need a God who works on us. The gospel isn't about making God fit our preferences; it's about letting Him reshape our hearts.

ASK THIS:

1. Have you ever tried to build a version of faith that "fits" your lifestyle?
2. Where have you made peace with sin by calling it "personal conviction"?
3. How does Micah's example warn us about the dangers of self-made religion?
4. What truth have you been tempted to rewrite to make life easier?

DO THIS:

• Read Romans 1:25: "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator."
• Repent of any area where you've been "editing" God's authority to fit your comfort.

PRAY THIS:

Father, I don't want a faith that fits my comfort—I want a faith that changes my character. Save me from the kind of religion that worships me instead of You. Tear down every idol I've built in my own image and bring me back under Your truth. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Christ Be Magnified."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is Judges 17:3-4:

"And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, 'I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.' So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah." — Judges 17:3-4

Micah's mother meant well—but meaning well doesn't make something right. She takes stolen silver, dedicates it "to the Lord," and then uses it to fund an idol. It's one of the strangest contradictions in Scripture: a mom trying to honor God by disobeying Him.

But this is where sentimental faith always leads. Yesterday, she blessed what God condemned. Today, she's building what God forbade. When we refuse to confront sin, it doesn't just sit quietly—it grows bold.

You can almost hear her logic: "I'm doing this for God. It's my way of worship." But the moment we start serving God our way, we stop serving Him His way. Micah's mother didn't reject the Lord; she redefined Him. She wanted God's presence and blessing without God's authority.

And that's the same deception shaping modern faith. We've learned to baptize disobedience in religious language. Parents fund their kids' sinful choices and call it love. Churches adopt the world's ideologies and call it outreach. Politicians quote Bible verses while endorsing laws that mock God's design. It's all the same move—blessing what God condemns and calling it righteousness.

But God is not impressed by sincerity when it's married to sin. Good intentions don't turn rebellion into righteousness. When we fund what He forbids, we don't build faith—we build idols.

We see it in the culture of "progressive Christianity." We want inclusion without repentance, affirmation without transformation, and spirituality without submission. We think God should evolve with our culture, when in truth, we are the ones called to conform to His holiness.

The tragedy of Micah's home is that it looked religious but lived rebellious. It had silver crosses and carved idols, blessings and blasphemy side by side. And that's what happens when love loses its spine—sentimentality becomes sin, and truth is replaced by tolerance.

ASK THIS:

1. Where are you tempted to justify sin with "good intentions"?
2. How does your home reflect what you really believe about God's boundaries?
3. Have you ever supported something "for love's sake" that you knew dishonored God?
4. What would it look like to love your family with conviction instead of compromise?

DO THIS:

• Ask God to reveal one area where you've been "blessing" what He condemns.
• Repent by naming it for what it is—not "progress," not "love," but sin.
• Have one honest conversation this week with someone who needs truth spoken in love.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, forgive me for blessing what You've already called sin. Give me courage to love with conviction, to call truth what You call truth, and to stop confusing kindness with compromise. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Holy (Song of the Ages)."