The Daily Word: Saturday, April 24th, 2021
Judges 2:10-3:31
Luke 22:14-34
Psalm 92:1-93:5
Proverbs 14:1-2
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Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. – Judges 2:11-12
Israel made it to the Promised Land! They had finally taken possession of the land God had promised them so many years before. It was a good land, “flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8). But the blessing would not stay on them for long! As one generation died and another began to lead God’s people, they forgot about God. This new generation “did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel” (v 10). They didn’t know God through personal experience! They had never seen His miracles or watched Him move on their behalf. So they followed after other gods and missed out on God’s intended blessing.
The real problem was that Israel’s leaders stopped taking their cues from God’s Word, and started taking their cues from the dominant culture. They “followed other gods from among the…people who were all around them” (v 12). They were influenced by the culture of the region in which they lived, instead of influencing the dominant culture with the culture of God’s Kingdom!
Your job is not to be accepted by the dominant culture. Your job is not to be well-liked! It is to be an ambassador of God’s Kingdom! Don’t try to fit in. Stand out. Because “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4).
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” – Lk. 6:26
Prayer:
Father, I repent for allowing myself to be influenced by the dominant culture of my day. Help me to stand apart, even if it means standing alone! I want to be an ambassador for Your Kingdom: no matter what it costs, and no matter what other people think, in Jesus’ name.
© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.