The Lord Shall Rule Over You
I think it is amazing how so many people will follow a human ruler, but they will not let the Lord rule their lives. After their fantastic victory over the huge Midianite army with just 300 men, the Israelites wanted Gideon to rule over them. He refused, and he told them the truth. God was supposed to be the ruler over Israel.(Judges 8:23) The same thing is true for believers today.
It was a sign of Gideon's character that he refused to rule over his people. A lesser man would have jumped at this offer. He knew that God had given him the power to defeat the enemies, and he would not take credit for that. He did not let that victory got to his head. He pointed people to the Lord who had given them the victory. Any Christian leader should do the same thing today. God does not want us to take power and glory for ourselves, even if He has called us to lead in the church. We need to point people to follow God, not to follow us.
I guess people want to have a human ruler, because they think he can relate to their needs. Also, they can decide to rebel against him, if they feel he is unjust. However, when it comes to God, He is so absolute in His rule that people refuse to follow Him. They think He is uncaring and unwise because they disagree with Him. That is strange to me. We know next to nothing. He knows everything. We have very imperfect love. He is perfect love. How can we think we know better how to rule our lives than He does? It is just pride. Gideon put aside His pride and followed the Lord. We all need to do the same thing.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 9-11.
It was a sign of Gideon's character that he refused to rule over his people. A lesser man would have jumped at this offer. He knew that God had given him the power to defeat the enemies, and he would not take credit for that. He did not let that victory got to his head. He pointed people to the Lord who had given them the victory. Any Christian leader should do the same thing today. God does not want us to take power and glory for ourselves, even if He has called us to lead in the church. We need to point people to follow God, not to follow us.
I guess people want to have a human ruler, because they think he can relate to their needs. Also, they can decide to rebel against him, if they feel he is unjust. However, when it comes to God, He is so absolute in His rule that people refuse to follow Him. They think He is uncaring and unwise because they disagree with Him. That is strange to me. We know next to nothing. He knows everything. We have very imperfect love. He is perfect love. How can we think we know better how to rule our lives than He does? It is just pride. Gideon put aside His pride and followed the Lord. We all need to do the same thing.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 9-11.