Living in the Spirit
November 10, 2014
Scripture Reading: Judges 4:1-7
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years. — Judges 4:1-3
We really do not know exactly what the Israelites did again that was evil. Back in chapter three they were charged with forgetting the Lord their God, and worshipping the Baals and the Asherahs. This seems to be the way of human nature. When things are going well we don’t necessarily think a lot about God. We might even seek out the allure of lesser gods that may not have any real power but are tempting in some way. The desire for more and more wealth or power, for example, are probably our 21st Century Baals and Asherahs. Of course, we are far too sophisticated to worship some figure carved from stone, although we can become seriously attached to our gadgets. What the book of Judges tells us over and over is that doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord always ends badly. I think it is also telling us that our relationship with God is a 24/7 proposition. Good times or bad, we are called to be in sync with God.
Speaking of gadgets, I have been using one of those step tracker things that people can wear to tell them how active they are. It works for me, probably because I am rather goal oriented. If it shows I have walked 4.6 miles, I’ll make the extra effort to get it up to five. Our relationship with God is like that. When things are going pretty good it doesn’t mean we should rest on our laurels but rather that we are at a point when we can take the next step up in our journey of faith. We know we can always depend on God through the bad times. The question is can God depend on us in the good times.
Prayer: God of the Dance, help me to keep on moving toward the fulfillment of your will and your way through the good times and the bad times. Help me to know evil when in crosses my path and to shun it in favor of faith, hope, and love. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.