Judges 1-2:15 "He Means It, Part 1"

"I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars. Yet you have disobeyed me." Judges 2:1b-2a NIV

When God brought the Israelite people to the promised land, He told them to take the land and destroy the idols of those who live there. But they disobeyed. They allowed many of the Canaanites to remain there and over time, their way of life and their idol worship seeped into the lives of the Canaanites. The poison will always try to take over the healthy tissue and that is exactly what happened to the body of Israelites. By not obeying God's commands, they had allowed the evil He had commanded them to get rid of to become a part of their culture.

How often does God tell us to remove something from our lives and we don't do it? Maybe it's a bad habit; maybe it is spending time with someone who is a bad influence on us. Sometimes even innocuous activities can become an obstacle. We can allow watching or playing sports or participating in a hobby to become our obsession and distract us from where God wants us to focus. If He says to remove that habit, activity, or even thought process from our lives, we need to be obedient to that. We may feel like what we are doing is innocent and think that surely God would not ask me to give that up, but He does.

I am fascinated with the Amish. They are completely committed to simplicity, plainness, and devotion to God. They are huge on family and their community in helping one another daily. They live off the land and the distractions of the modern world are forbidden from their lives. Now one area they lack is being evangelistic about their love of God. They have completely isolated themselves from living out Matthew 28:19-20. However, we, in the world, have gone completely the other direction. How much have we allowed the world to infiltrate our lives and water-down the gospel? Have we compromised our testimony to the point of impotency? Do we "look" any different from the non-believers we live among and are supposed to be sharing Christ with?

Surely there is a happy middle ground between isolationism and compromise. Finding how to live "in the world and not of it" is a daily battle we must wage. This can only be accomplished through a constant communion with the Father and obedience to His directives. If he says something must be removed, then we need to remove it. If he says we are to go, then we need to go. God loves us and wants His very best for us. Therefore, if He says it, He means it. Our job is to obey. (Tomorrow, part 2, the consequences of disobedience.)

Further Thoughts:

1. Is there some area of your life that you have allowed the world to infiltrate and God is telling you to get rid of it?
2. What obstacles stand in the way of obedience? How do we overcome them?
3. Do you truly believe God's motivation for his commands in our lives is because He loves us or is He just an Almighty Tyrant? (Honestly think through this answer.)

Father, sometimes I don't understand why you require certain things from me. I feel strong enough in my faith in such a way that they will not interfere with my walk. But I want to live in complete obedience to You. So help me to let go of that which is hindering me from being everything You want me to be. I want to be your devoted servant and that can only happen through absolute obedience. I love you and thank you for loving me. Amen.

Matthew 20:20-28 "A Heart for Service"

Read Matthew 20:20-28.

"...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,and to give his life as a ransom for many." NIV

Here's a big surprise to many people who confess Christianity, we are here to serve. We are not here to soak up knowledge like a sponge. It is good to gain knowledge, but then we must put it to work. We are not here to make money. Although if we are blessed with a good paying job, we can certainly help out God's work financially. We are not here to gain more power. We are not here to sit on our backsides and complain. We are not here to let everyone else serve us.

Jesus demonstrated that we are all called to serve others. Now what that looks like will be different for different people. God has placed us all in various places on this globe at various times in history to do various jobs for Him. He's uniquely gifted each of us and will use those gifts to meet the needs of others and glorify Him. But no matter where we are, our service opportunities will range from large acts such as helping someone rebuild their home after a disaster to the smallest acts of service such as holding a door open for someone. God wants our eyes to be constantly on the lookout for someone needing us to serve them.

However, before our eyes can see, our hearts must be in an attitude of giving and it begins with surrender. Surrender to my agenda and submission to God's. This is not easy to do and I'm constantly working to do better. I am definitely a list person. I wake up in the morning thinking through the list of things I need to accomplish that day. Can you imagine Jesus doing that? "Okay, I'm going to heal three blind people, one lame, and two deaf today."

Jesus lived in the moment of need. We see several times where he was walking one place and was interrupted with someone calling Him over to heal them or taking Him to their home to heal their child. And because Jesus had such a high level of compassion and a heart to serve, He went.

Now I know we still have to do the things we need to do to live and pay bills. But it wouldn't hurt me to focus more on living in the moment and letting God interrupt my schedule to go serve someone who needs it.

Lord, increase my heart compassion for others and their needs. Help me to remain focused on Your redirection from my daily tasks. Don't let me miss the moment because it doesn't fit my schedule.

Further Thoughts:

1. Look up Scripture with the word "serve" or "service." What are the situations noted where we are to serve?
2. Is it easy for you to get caught up in the "to do's" of life? Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the needs around you.

Ephesians 6:5-9 "A Servant's Heart"

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

"And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him." NIV

Okay, so this is a strange passage to discuss as an American -- we don't have slaves. But at that time, the Romans had millions of slaves. Christianity didn't abolish the slavery but it was there to teach how to live in the midst of it as followers of Christ -- for slaves and masters.

But what I can draw parallels to is the employer/employee, supervisor/volunteer, parent/child relationships. Anytime we we submit to an authority figure on a project or we are the authority, these principles can apply. In every job we have we should be serving the Lord, not men. I do my best in all things not for the pat on the back, but because I am a servant of the Most High and excellence is a standard, not an option. I want to always give all I have because I love Him, and He's the One who gave me my abilities in the first place. In the same way, if I am the one in charge, I want to be a gracious leader as my Lord demonstrated.

Lord, whichever position I am in, help me to be a gracious servant of You alone. Then everyone else around me will benefit.

Further Thoughts:

1. How did Jesus exemplify a servant's heart even as the Master? Give specific examples.
2. Examine how you serve others or how you have authority over others. Are there areas that you need to change to follow Christ's example better? List them and ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to make those changes.