Day 67, or March the 8th. Don't miss out like poor old Barak.
Our thoughts today are from Judges chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. She, that is Deborah, sent
for Barak, and said to him, The LORD the God of Israel commands you, go take with you ten
thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon, and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera,
the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops, to the Kishon River,
and give him into your hands.
Now the big picture surrounding these verses. The book of Judges covers approximately 400
years of Israeli history, and is dominated by a group of leaders called Judges. They
ruled the land until kings were appointed. The first judge we hear about following Joshua
was Othniel, whose uncle was Caleb, one of the two spies who went to Jericho. He defeated
the Assyrians and was succeeded by Ehud, who defeated the Moabites. The next judge was
Deborah, the only female judge that we know about. She was called to defeat the Canaanites
after the leader of the army, Barak, went to her for help. Events kept repeating themselves.
The people sinned and were conquered by a neighbouring power, but each time God sent
a judge who conquered the oppressors and brought peace. However, when the judge died, the people
soon slid back into their old sinful ways, and God sent another judge to free them. And
so the cycle was repeated.
And now our action step for today. If you look at a list of judges you will find Deborah,
but not Barak. Sadly, Barak was called, but preferred to see Deborah respond. God gives
us free will so we are able to respond positively or negatively. We are not puppets, so we can
miss out on what God has for us. Many people in our churches are unfulfilled because they
have rejected the call of God. If they have responded to the call for salvation, then
they are saved, but they often go on to be frustrated and unfulfilled and wonder why.
Check with God today about His call on your life. Do it now. Why risk losing out for another
day?