Accomodation
This is Election Day locally here in Fort Collins. We will know perhaps tonight, hopefully by tomorrow the outcome of the election. I appreciate the support and prayers of everyone. It has made a difference. This campaign has re-energized me, so this year has started off good, regardless of the outcome.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?” Judges 2:1,2 ESV
After the death of Joshua, the tribes of Israel moved in to take possession of the promised land. But the accounts of complete victory are short-lived. The tribe of Judah was successful, the “house of Joseph” was successful. But when it came to the next tribes we read,
“Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages…Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer…Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron….. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco…Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh…” (Judges 1:27,29-33 ESV)
The Israelites did not conquer but turned the inhabitants of the land into “forced labor.” At least for a time. We don’t know if they really “couldn’t” or just “wouldn’t” drive the people from the land. For the Lord had instructed them to do so and promised to help them in doing so.
What we do know is the Lord viewed their actions as acts of disobedience and breaking of the covenant the Lord made with the forefathers and had promised to fulfill through them. What they were not willing to to do, they would not be able to do.
“So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” (Judges 2:3 ESV)
Even though God’s people respond initially in repentance and making scarifies, their persistence to serve only the Lord God was short-lived. They soon allowed the influence of the gods of the land to infiltrate their minds and then their hearts. Idolatry began to seep in and then came bondage to the people they had allow to live and enslave; they would cry out to the Lord and the Lord would send a leader (a judge) to bring them victory and peace for a season. That’s the story of the Book of Judges.
But as I considered the Canaanites as a “test” to God’s people, it made me think of the challenges believers face as we interface with “modern” culture. Is God testing us through the presence of the world system, as to our faithfulness to Him?
I think of the caution of the Apostle John, “Love not the world, neither the things that in the world…” (1 John 2:15) I think of the prayer of Jesus related to His followers, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:16 NIV) Just before this Jesus’ petition was, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15 NIV)
We are called to be salt and light in a dark world. Let’s make sure our influence is greater on the world, than the world’s influence on us.
Prayer for today…. Lord we are tested daily, as to whose kingdom will shape our views, our attitudes, our actions. Give us sensitivity when the “ways of the world” are taking root in our hearts, help us to “pass the test” and always be found faithful to You.
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