Verse of the Day 4/27

Through the Bible - 2 Samuel 17-19, Luke22:1-23

 

Good morning,

For today's verse we'll go back to the book of Judges which covers a time when the nation of Israel operated without a king and as was described in chapter 17: 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.   NKJV
The nation was governed by Judges, one of the best known and best remembered was Samson, man of super human strength whose strength was from the Lord.

 

Yesterday we considered what it meant to have a God who is with us who "encamps around us".  We should also know that it is possible to ignore God, to rebel against Him and to have that relationship, that strength, leave us.

 

Judg 16:19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.  And his strength left him.

 

20 Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"

 

He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him.    NIV

Samson had been set apart for God's service from childhood.  He had so much going for him, good looks and strength to name a couple, but as he grew older he slowly and methodically, step by step, turned away from God, assuming that He would always be there even when He went in the direct opposite direction of where God would have had him go or do.

 

We don't know if Samson actually came to believe that his strenght was from himself, but he was not concerned to keep his secret, to his own peril.

 

John MacArthur writes, "Here was the tragedy of the wrath of abandonment.  His sin had caused him to forfeit the power of God's presence."  Perhaps he didn't think it was God at all.

 

We must be careful not to become so self sufficient, self reliant, to believe that we can go and do as we please with no regard for God and His glory and still have Him there to deliver us from every trial, even those that result from our direct disobedience.

This scenario is seen repeatedly in the Old Testament in kings and judges of Israel, in the nation as a whole today.  Sadly, it even occurs within churches and denominations.

 

What is the answer?  Stay close too God.  Seek Him.  Listen, trust, and obey as He speaks to you from His word and through His messengers.

 

Instead of quoting from the passage in Judges, I'll post a few verses from Proverbs, the book of wisdom, which has something important to tell us on the subject.  How do these verses speak to you today?

 

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
Prov 1:24-2:1

 

24 "I called you so often, but you wouldn't come.
I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
25 You ignored my advice
and rejected the correction I offered.
26 So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

 

28 "When they cry for help, I will not answer.
Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
29 For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord.
30 They rejected my advice
and paid no attention when I corrected them.
31 Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
choking on their own schemes.
32 For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
33 But all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm."    NLT