Saturday, March 21

Scripture: As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god. (Judges 8:33).

Observation: The legend of Gideon continues. After Gideon drives out the Midianites from Israel, the nation enjoys a season of peace. But peace ends almost immediately after Gideon dies. As if Gideon was the glue holding the Israelites connected to their faithfulness to God, “as soon as” Gideon is gone the Israelites turned to worshipping the Baals, the gods of the Canaanites. Worship of the Baals triggers a cascade of consequences. The sons of Gideon turn against each other and lead the Israelites into a civil war, some clans following a son named Abimelech and other clans following a son named Jotham. Untold number of Israelites die in the war, including Abimelech, Jotham, and all seventy (!) of Gideon’s sons. Gideon’s legacy as a heroic liberator is clouded by the civil war driven by his sons and their lust for power, a lust that was stronger than their love for family. But what was the cause of their lust for power? According to Judges 8:33, the cause was the “relapse” to worshipping other gods. Idolatry has consequences This time, it’s neighbor turned against neighbor and love exchanged for hate.

Application: It was easy for the Israelites to worship God in the good times, when Gideon was leading them to victory. But the good times end with Gideon’s death. Without their fearless leader, the Israelites become confused about who they are and whose vision will hold them together. Losing a unifying leader like Gideon was always going to be hard, and the Israelites might have weathered the hard with little collateral damage, except they treat the end of the good times and the beginning of the hard times as an excuse to turn away from God. Is it more difficult to have faith in God in the hard times? Sure, but what is also hard is the consequences of not having faith in God. We need to choose which hard we want: the hard that comes with having faith in God when the season is difficult and painful, or the hard that comes with not having faith in God and the inevitable lack of good decision-making and constructive virtues. The hard times are going to be the hard times; that’s life. But God lets us choose which brand of hard we want. It's worth repeating: do we want the hard of staying faithful to God independent of circumstance? Or do we want the hard of letting our faith become dependent on circumstance and watching our hearts and relationships morph into shadows of their former selves?

Prayer: Today’s prayer is the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer, written by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. I encourage you to say this prayer. May its central theme of faithfulness to God in all seasons become a compass for your heart.

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.

And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it also be made in heaven.