1 Chronicles 13:9
“And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.”
The story from the verse above is about the attempt to move the ark of the covenant to the city of David. David desired the ark of the covenant to be where he lived because he wanted God’s presence and blessings upon him. There was certainly nothing wrong with David’s desire. I believe that God was pleased with his desire.
The problem in this story comes when David decided to move the ark of the covenant on a new cart that was pulled by oxen. This was not the way God prescribed for the ark of the covenant to be moved. God said that the priests were to carry it on their shoulders. David thought that moving it on a new cart would be easier for everyone and faster. The problem arose when they came to the threshing floor and the oxen stumbled, and when they stumbled Uzza put his hand on the ark to steady it. This caused God to kill Uzza because no man was to touch the ark.
As pure as David’s desires were to move the ark to his city, he still did it the wrong way. His way of doing things was not God’s way of doing things. I believe David thought that moving the ark on a new cart didn’t seem like that big of a deal, but what he could not account for by not doing things God’s way was that the oxen would stumble and a man would put forth his hand to steady the ark. David was sincere in putting the ark on a new cart, but he was sincerely wrong. God desires obedience even when obedience doesn’t seem to be the best way or the most obedient way.
God tells us how to live in His Word. When God shows us how to live, He expects us to do things His way. Many times we come up with great ways to do God’s work, but the ways we come up with to do God’s work is not how He wants us to do them. Your motives can be pure and sincere, but God is not as interested that we do His work with pure motives as much as He wants us to do His work His way.
Friend, sincerity doesn’t make a wrong right. You can have sincere motives for compromising truth, but that doesn’t change right and wrong. Right and wrong are not based off our sincerity; instead, right and wrong are based off God’s Word. Just because a person is sincere doesn’t make them right.
Furthermore, just because a method of how we do things may seem to produce better results, if it is not done God’s way then it is still wrong. The problem with humans doing things with human reasoning is that humans can’t foresee the oxen stumbling. We can’t see what is ahead. We don’t know the future. We can’t see that somebody will take what we do and do something absolutely wrong with our actions. That is why you must always do things God’s way.
Christian, God’s way is the best way to live Christianity. Stop letting sincerity to be the determining factor of right and wrong. Stop allowing the results to determine whether something is right and wrong. Only allow the Word of God to determine whether you are doing something the right way. God’s Word is our final authority, and it always overrides sincere motives and better results. Always look to God’s Word to see if you are doing something the right way.