Judges 17:1

Judges 17:1 says, And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.  Verse two adds, And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.  We are told of a young man, named Micah, who came to his mother confessing that he had taken the eleven hundred shekels of silver that she had been looking for.  She had cursed whomever had stolen her money, but when her son returned it, she asked he be blessed of the LORD, though it seems that the money was more important to her than her son or the LORD.  We should never allow material things to be more important to us than our family and we certainly should never allow them to become more important than God.  Verse three continues, And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.  The woman said that she had wholly dedicated the silver to the LORD, but then said it was to be used to make a graven image, which was against God's law.  We cannot give something to God while at the same time specifying that it is to be used for something that goes against His law.  Of course, I personally think that what we give to God should come with no strings attached.  Verse four states, Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.  Though the woman said she had given the eleven hundred shekels to the LORD, she only used two hundred to make the graven image.  She did not carry through on her promise, but since she was using the money to make an idol instead of it being used for God's glory and by His leadership, it really didn't matter.  We should always give to God what we promise to give Him, but if we are giving it to be used for ungodly purposes, it doesn't matter if we claim that we are giving everything to Him.  The idol was kept in Micah's house.  Verse five adds, And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.  Micah then made an ephod and a teraphim, which are associated with worshipping God, and consecrated one of his sons to be his priest.  Though Micah was called a young man, he was evidently old enough to have a son old enough to serve as a priest, but Micah did not have this authority to make his son a priest.  Only God can call someone as a priest, or I believe more accurately as a pastor today.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, which comes by His call, we are all a part of the priesthood of believers. Then, we are called to a particular role of service in His kingdom, but our parents nor we ourself can ever just decide what that role will be.  Verse six continues, In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  In those days Israel was without a king or a judge, and everyone did what they felt was right in their own eyes.  God's people, or at least those called by His name, were not seeking His will, and that is a place we never want to be as Christians.