Giddy Up Gideon
In todays scripture passages we see two very different reactions by two different men who decide to follow God.
Let us look at the Old Testament account of Gideon. The name Gideon means Destroyer, Mighty warrior or Feller (of trees).
Well as the story opens we see that Gideon is not so brave in fact he is hiding as he grinds grain using a wine press. The Israelites are so afraid that they have taken to living in caves. They have turned from worshiping the true Living God and instead have taken to worshiping idols.
They were worshiping the gods of the Amorites. Asherah was the mother goddess to the moon god Amurru which the Amalekites and Midianites worshiped. Asherah poles were thought to be a grove of trees that bore a carved image on them that surrounded the altar. The Baal gods were gods of fertility of the earth and sky. The worship required human sacrifice, burning incense, and sexual licentiousness.
No wonder things were going so bad for the Israelites. It would seem that they were pretty much given over to the spiritual practices of their enemies. That is exactly what Satan wants to happen to you.
Satan wants you to be given over to the gods of this age, to idols of all kinds. We have it all over our televisions, the blatant sexual images and degradation of sex as something cheap and common rather than something precious and intimate. We have the hunger for power of all kinds other than a moral or spiritual power which is the Holy Spirit. We have an insatiable appetite for wealth and money and all the idols that wealth can purchase for us.
We have a society today that is not so different from Gideons time.
Yet, God chose Gideon, a young man from an otherwise unremarkable clan from the tribe of Manasseh, to free the people of Israel and to condemn their worship of idols. Gideon was very unsure of both himself and Gods command, he requested proof of Gods will by a miracle.
We see the same doubters among so called Christians today. They chase after the signs and wonders evangelists of our times not satisfied with what they know of God through their own experience. They have the church, they have the Holy Spirit, they have the bible the word of God yet they still want a sign a miracle to evidence God. There own existence should be enough evidence that God exists but still they like Gideon are not content, they want a sign.
God contends with Gideon and provides several signs not one but many to validate that indeed the Living God is calling him to act. Only then does Gideon get up the nerve to do what he is asked.
Are you living your Christian life like a Gideon? Do you feel comfortable sitting on the sidelines not taking a stand not stating an opinion? Have you given in to the pressure of todays society and found yourself like Gideon fallen away from God? Have you decided its better to hide than fight for what you believe in?
I am here to tell you that God still wants you despite your poor testimony. God wants to put your spine straight again He wants to give you a backbone again. God is calling you to return and bring your family with you just as God called out to Gideon to bring a nation back to worshiping the true and Living God.
God called Gideon to battle, a spiritual battle. God instructed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many. With so many men, there could be reason for Gideons army to claim the victory as their own, instead of giving the credit to God. He instructed Gideon to send home those men who were afraid. 22,000 men returned home and 10,000 remained. I wonder how Gideon felt when he realized two thirds of his army where cowards? It is another reminder for us not to put our faith in man.
Gideon finally does the right thing he destroys the foreign altars and false gods and sets up a new altar to the Living God. He defeats an army of more than 120,000 with only 300 men at Gods request and peace is restored for Israel for forty years.
We see in Gideon a willingness to overlook our personal accountability and blame our problems on God and others. When problems come into our life the first place we should look is within ourselves. We need to ask our self why we are backslidden, why are we out of fellowship with God. Who moved away from the relationship? God promises the tools and strength we need to be victorious but we often make excuses.
The bible says God will not leave us nor forsake us. Deuteronomy 31:6
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:4 NIV
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Now let us contrast the response of Gideon with the response of Matthew.
Matthew had a good government job that allowed him to take a little extra for himself now and then. He was a tax collector a Jewish man appointed by the Roman overlords to collect taxes from his own people. Matthew was despised by his own people. He did not have a lot of friends he took care of himself. He had his money to keep him company and he could buy friends to drink with and party with.
Matthew was a record keeper he knew everyone who tried to short their taxes and called them on it. He was rewarded for pointing out other peoples attempt to steal from the government but he freely stole from his own people. Matthew was the kind of person so filled with self loathing that he was looking for a way out he was looking for a new start.
Matthew was probably sick and tired of the dirty looks from his fellow Jews from the guilty conscience that burned inside him. He was in fact stealing bread out of the mouths of children. He was making life harder for his own people.
Unlike Gideon, Matthew did not need a sign from heaven to move his heart to believe. He met Jesus face to face and that was all it took. Jesus invited him to follow and Matthew did not hesitate. Matthew must have heard the buzz on Jesus he must have heard about the miracles and the preaching and how Jesus challenged the religious people of the day.
Gideon had heard about Gods miracles and still he needed a sign on top of what he already knew. Matthew just needed an invitation.
What do you need from God to know that you are being called to follow him? What will it take to get you to leave the world and its false idols and turn to God? Do you need an angelic visitor or the earth to shake beneath your feet? Do you need a burning bush or a voice from heaven?
No friend all you and I need is to meet Jesus. All we need is to spend a little quality time with him like Matthew did. Matthew was so excited that Jesus would accept him and invite him to be a follower that he didnt need to think twice about it. Matthew knew what he had become and he was in a hurry to change his life in order to please God.
Matthew even threw a party for all his friends and invited Jesus as the guest of honor. The religious people accused Jesus of spending time with tax collectors and sinners. If Jesus were to eat with the Pharisees he would still have been eating with sinners. The Believers Bible Commentary says: If Jesus hadnt of eaten with sinners he would have had to eat alone for our world is full of sinners.
The Life Application Bible puts it this way:
Matthews and Gideons experience points out that each of us, from the beginning, is one of Gods works in progress. Much of what God has for us he gives us long before we are able to consciously respond to him. He trusts us with skills and abilities ahead of schedule. He has made us each capable of being a servant. When we trust him with what he has given us we begin a life of real adventure. Matthew couldnt have known that God would use the very skills he had sharpened as a tax collector to record the greatest story ever lived. And God has no less meaningful a purpose for each one of us. Have you recognized Jesus saying to you, Follow me?
We should not be afraid to reach out to people living in sin. Gods message can change anyone. God is concerned for all people the poor, the rich, the immoral, the lonely and outcast not just the rich, the moral, popular and powerful. Which one are you? It does not matter God loves you and wants you to walk through this life with him.
