Judges 3:7-9
Verse 9 But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them.
As we ended our time together yesterday we mentioned how the people of Israel had the habit of waiting to turn to God until things were really bad and sometimes we do the same. This could be a result of us not taking our sins very seriously or maybe not seeing the hard times in life as being possible discipline. Like a loving parent, God disciplines those He loves and His people in the Promised Land were no different.
The people of God in today’s reading had decided to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and He eventually got upset enough with these people that He allows another nation to take them as subjects. This wasn’t in the plan of God’s people, it wasn’t God’s desire either but since they decided God’s ways weren’t good enough for them, they put themselves in a place where they deserved discipline. We know God is long suffering and so we can guess He let them flounder for a little before giving them to another king.
Once they were learning the hardship of being subjects to another nation they realized how good it was before and start crying out to God to rescue them. They had become uncomfortable in their position more than uncomfortable with their sin. This was the issue which kept the Israelites in the cycle of disobedience and repentance. We may find ourselves in the same spiritual situation.
There are times in our lives when things are not going well and we just chalk it up to times being rough, it seldom occurs to us God may be trying to get our attention. It may be that we have allowed our view of God to become so distorted we think of Him in a position of loving us without thinking much about His actually being God, King of the Heavenly Kingdom. While He does love us, focusing on the part of Him we associate with love can keep us from remembering a loving Father corrects His children.
The Israelites in our passage for the day took 8 years to get to the point where they turned back to God. It took them 8 years to realize God’s way was for the best. He hadn’t given His commands to hold them back in life but to give them a better life. The longer we hold out on repenting, the more we put ourselves in a place of needing discipline. We need to learn to repent early, remembering His ways are for our best life.
Making It Personal
When have you felt the discipline of the Lord in your life? How do you know it was discipline? Has it helped you repent more quickly of your sins?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you like to be disciplined? What can keep you from being disciplined? Do you think Jesus wants obedience too?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent of how we tend to be so focused on ourselves and our desires we ignore You causing the need for discipline. Thank You for loving us so much that You do want to call us to repentance. Give us hearts which are quick to repent. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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