Day 78: Judg 2:1 - 5:14

Here we see a picture of what seems to happen to alot of believers as well as certain sections of the body of Christ. The children of Israel had been taken through an incredible hardship and had been given an amazing victory finally moving into the land that God promised them and achieving the call that He had placed on their lives, and yet, they ended up turning their back on God and relying on their own ideas and "know-how." And sure enough, God allowed their enemies to attack them like a flood breaking upon the rocks. It's interesting to read the stories of these judges sent by God to help Israel in these tough times, but I think even the judges are a perfect example of what you get when you treat the symptoms and not the disease. When the judges were in power, things were going great for the Children of Israel; and, naturally, they were more than happy to follow the right path while that judge was alive. After all, things went pretty well when the judge was in power so why not try to "be good." But we see as soon as adversity came back and the judge was no longer there to stand in the gap, they all just fell apart and totally ignored their Creator.

- Father, help us not to be like the Children of Israel in those days when they were only good if someone was watching them. I don't want to live the roller-coaster life that they did, but I want to stand firm under Your blessings and not waiver regardless of how comfortable I get. Help me to stay the course and see everything You've called me to do to the very end. I know that partial obedience is no obedience, and I do not want to wander down that road. -