Thoughts for the Day
Isaiah 28:20 - Read through the Bible Thought
“For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.”
Our efforts to provide comfort are like a too short bed, and a thin, narrow blanket. Only God can provide what weary souls need.
Anthony Weiner meant to bear God’s moral image.
J. I. Packer- “As rational persons, we were made to bear God’s moral image—that is, our souls were made to “run” on the practice of worship, law-keeping, truthfulness, honesty, discipline, self-control, and service to God and our fellows. If we abandon these practices, not only do we incur guilt before God; we also progressively destroy our own souls.” Knowing God, J. I. Packer, 1973
Lest we forget - Amnesia produces Apostasy
…Amnesia produces apostasy. That is why Scripture is so frantic about the church not forgetting what Yahweh has done for us (see Deut. 4 and 6). So Jeremiah diagnosed faithless Israel:
They did not say, ‘Where is the Lordwho brought us up from the land of Egypt,who led us in the wilderness,in a land of deserts and pits,in a land of drought and deep darkness,in a land that none passes through,where no man dwells? (Jer. 2:6 rsv)
When we allow either his quiet keeping or his dramatic rescue to slip into oblivion we are on our way toward Baal. Nor is it merely some ancient Israelite problem. The apostle warns us of false teachers who will be ‘denying the Master who bought them’ (2 Peter 2:1 rsv, italics added). Which is good reason for us to partake gratefully and frequently of the Lord’s Supper. Lest we forget.
Davis, D. R. (2000). Judges: Such a Great Salvation. Focus on the Bible Commentary. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.
Glorious in our sight now
“If you would joy in Christ’s glory hereafter, He must be glorious in your sight now. Is He so?” Charles Spurgeon
Salvation - a vicious violence by which Christ wrenches his people out of the clammy clutches of the prince of darkness
That was Israel’s condition. ‘When the judge died, they turned back and acted more corruptly than their fathers’ (2:19). Why did they always do that? Why could they not break that pattern? It is mysterious; but Judges does teach us that that is the tragic tyranny of sin. Sin is not simply an action you do or fail to do, that you can choose to do or not to do. Sin is a power that holds you in its grip. That is precisely what the apostle meant when he averred that all—both Jew and Gentile, both religious man and pagan man—are ‘under sin’ (Rom. 3:9), by which he means ‘under the power of sin’ (rsv). And until the church gets a proper view of sin, we will never see salvation as much more than a moving religious charade rather than as an act of holy, vicious violence by which Christ wrenches his people out of the clammy clutches of the prince of darkness (cf. 1 John 3:8).
Davis, D. R. (2000). Judges: Such a Great Salvation. Focus on the Bible Commentary. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.
Pragmatic Success and Christian Failure
The picture Judges 1 gives us is of an Israel in substantial control of Canaan, a people clearly successful though certainly disobedient. Pragmatic success and spiritual failure—a strange but possible combination. So Israel is dominant if not obedient; she enjoys superiority even if she does not maintain fidelity.
(Judges 1) …carries its admonition for God’s people in any age. For one thing, it tells us that it is possible for the believer’s life to display the marks of success and yet be a failure in the eyes of God. Christian success (whether personal or in the form of a glossy evangelical enterprise) is not necessarily the same as pleasing God.
Davis, D. R. (2000). Judges: Such a Great Salvation. Focus on the Bible Commentary (pp 24–25). Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.
Christian Unity
In Judges, Israel’s unity is slowly disintegrating. D.R. Davis makes this point when talking about the importance tribal unity played in Judges 1:
“The Lord’s people thrive on mutual assistance; God has given us one another as channels of his help and strength. Indeed, the apostle prayed ‘that you, having your roots and foundation in love, might have the strength to grasp together with all the saints how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love is’ (Eph. 3:17–18, italics added). Getting a grip on the staggering limitlessness of Christ’s love for us is not something the believer does in blissful isolation. It can only be done/attempted ‘together with all the saints’! The unity and fellowship of God’s people is not a wimpy idea weaker Christians dote on. It is an essential condition for experiencing the strength of our God.”
Davis, D. R. (2000). Judges: Such a Great Salvation. Focus on the Bible Commentary. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.
That obedience which is not voluntary is disobedience, for the Lord looketh at the heart, and if He seeth that we serve Him from force, and not because we love Him, He will reject our offering. Service coupled with cheerfulness is heart-service, and therefore true. Take away joyful willingness from the Christian, and you have removed the test of his sincerity. If a man be driven to battle, he is no patriot; but he who marches into the fray with flashing eye and beaming face, singing, “It is sweet for one’s country to die,” proves himself to be sincere in his patriotism. Cheerfulness is the support of our strength; in the joy of the Lord are we strong. It acts as the remover of difficulties. It is to our service what oil is to the wheels of a railway carriage. Without oil the axle soon grows hot, and accidents occur; and if there be not a holy cheerfulness to oil our wheels, our spirits will be clogged with weariness.
The man who is cheerful in his service of God, proves that obedience is his element; he can sing, “Make me to walk in Thy commands, ‘Tis a delightful road.”
Reader, let us put this question - do you serve the Lord with gladness ?
Let us show to the people of the world, who think our religion to be slavery, that it is to us a delight and a joy! Let our gladness proclaim that we serve a good Master.
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