Who Will Lead

 April 15
 Daily Reading – Judges 8-9 / Luke 12:1-34

GOD SAID:

Judges 8:22-23 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

     Whenever there was an activity in school where there were team competitions, you always had some kids jumping up and down, hands waiving in the air, yelling to the top of their lungs, “PICK ME, PICK ME!” Some children, who were not as enthusiastic, would stand in the back of the pack of jumping beans and just wait to see if they were going to be the last to be chosen… again. Then there were the captains. The shinning stars who, it seemed, were good at everything. The ones who were always elected to do the choosing. Why were they chosen to be the pickers and grinners? It was normally because they were good at the activity we were preparing to do. Now let me ask you a question. Does the ability to do something well automatically make you a good leader, or just a good player?

      In today’s passages, Gideon was asked to be the ruler of Israel. Possibly their King. Sure, God had chosen him to lead the battle against the Midianites. However, we need to remember, Gideon did not win that battle. Gideon simply followed God’s directions to the letter and God won the battle. Gideon even reminded them of that fact in Judges 8:3 when He said “God hath delivered into your hands…” Nonetheless, the children of Israel could not see God, but they could see Gideon. They wanted a flesh and blood leader that they could see. Gideon wisely said, NO, “the LORD shall rule over you.”

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

     Respect for others is one thing. God’s word even says we are to respect those He has placed in authority over us. The trick for us however, is to never lose sight of who is really doing the leading. God must be leading our life.

Who is leading your life?
You, God, or someone else?

 

     
Living In His Word Ministries
    “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12