Another Lesson in Obedience

Judges 2: 1-3

Todays devotion could very quickly turn into a week long Bible study! The verses I suggested in Judges are the conclusion to a story about when the Israelites were taking control of the promised land. Let me summarize Judges chapter 1...

The Israelites had been commanded to take the land that God had promised them. They were supposed to "drive out" the Canaanites that lived in the land God was giving them. God commanded them to do this for their good. He knew that if any of the Canaanites remained with their pagan gods, the Israelites would eventually fall into idol worship. The Israelites had been commanded over and over not to worship other gods, so God was attempting to remove the temptation from them. However, they didn't obey. By the end of Judges chapter 1, all of the tribes have been named that failed to complete the job. Some of them did press the remaining Canaanites into slavery, but this was not what God had instructed them to do. Yet again we see that partial obedience is disobedience.

They didn't drive the Canaanites out therefore, God responded to their disobedience with a consequence. He would not drive them out. He left them there to be thorns in the children of Israel's sides and allowed their gods to be a snare for them. If you read on through chapter 2 of Judges, the consequences that they faced are almost unbearable for me to think about at as a mother. A generation later, they were still paying the consequences. The fathers had left the pagan altars, and their children and grandchildren were led astray. Verse 10 says that "another generation grew up who neither knew the Lord nor what he had done for Israel."

I am forced to ask myself today, what "pagan altars" am I not tearing down that will be a snare for my entire family tree? Where am I partially obeying God that might lead me down a path where my children would not even know the Lord or what He has done? What I see over and over throughout the Bible is not that God punishes children for their parents sin, but that our example of sin sets up a stronghold in their lives that will carry on for generation after generation until someone breaks it.

Up until about four years ago, I lived in a stronghold of doubt. It was a paralyzing place to live. It wasn't until I started searching the Word and made a conscious decision to believe God, that Christ (through me) began to break down those strong, thick bars. All through the process I started seeing that my mother, as well as her mother, had struggled with this same issue. Praise be to God that I have broken free from this stronghold and my mother has as well. I pray that this will not be an area that any of my children will ever struggle with. I pray that I will be an example of freedom in Christ to them.

May we take a serious look at our lives today and ask God to reveal any stronghold of sin that might pull our children away from Him. Our legacy depends on it and possibly the salvation of their souls.