Today's Scripture
Saying “Yes” Judges 6:11-18
11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.” 13 Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.” 15 He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.” 17 Then he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Do not depart from here until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
RJ's Devotion
What does the passage say?
V. 11-12 Gideon was working to hide his crops from the Midianites. When you are not able to enjoy the crops of your hard work, it shows how bad the situation was. The angel appears to him and says, ‘God is with you, and you are a mighty warrior.’
V. 13 Then Gideon responds shows the irony he sees in this statement.
V. 14-18 The angel shares how God will use the weak and lead the strong through Gideon. The angel emphasizes how God will be with him.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
‘Emmanual: Christ with us’
Is God with us?
In the Greatest commission, the last word of Jesus in Matthew 28, Jesus says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, NIV).
Jesus promises that he will be with us. That is why Jesus commissions us to the world. Since Jesus will be with us, to the end of the world, Jesus promises to give us the strength to do his will.
However, like Gideon, we do not believe that Christ will be with us. We might know he does, but we might not believe it with our heart.
It takes time for us to fully believe.
The angel commission Gideon with a mission to save the Israelites from the Midianites.
It takes awhile for Gideon to fully believe.
But once he believed, he was able to see how God used him in a mighty way.
God used the weak to not only lead but to defeat the strong.
God promising to be with us is an exciting proclamation.
The questions are, ‘Are we asking, like Gideon, to fully believe in this statement?’
Prayer
Lord, help us to fully believe in your promise that you will be with us. Be with us today.
In Christ name, we pray, AMEN.
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