Getting Complacent

April 2, 2008

After our greatest victories can come our greatest defeats. Gideon was not allowed to go to war with all of his soldiers, he only could go with the men God told him to take. And he won against unbelievable odds. It was clear who was to get the credit, or at least it should have been.


Judges 8:22-27 MKJV
(22) And the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son, and your son's son also. For you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.
(23) And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Jehovah shall rule over you.
(24) And Gideon said to them, I would desire a favor of you, that each man of you would give me the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
(25) And they answered, We will gladly give. And they spread a cloth, and each man threw the earrings of his prey in it.
(26) And the weight of the golden earrings which he asked for was seventeen hundred of gold, besides ornaments, and pendants, and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains around their camels' necks.
(27) And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel went there lusting after it, which thing became a snare to Gideon and to his house.


An ephod was a priestly garment, very elaborate. Gideon told the soldiers to give him their gold earring they had captured, so they did. He then made this garment but he made it out of Gold. We have to ask ourselves why would he turn down the kings position, a very smart thing to do since God is their leader, but they turn around and set up a gold piece of clothing to worship.

Are we much different in our lives. Do we not achieve something great with God's help and then turn around and say it is something that we did ourselves. Even in day to day life, we can talk about the great job we did on something. In doing that we forget the God who gave us the health we have to be able to do it.

Make sure not to run into the trap of forgetting who gave us what we have and worship the creator and not the created.

Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Judges 8:1-9:57
Tomorrow
Judges 10:1-12:15
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