Today's Reading:Judges 13:1-25
"The Birth of Samson"
Focus Verses: Judges 13:1
1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
Insight:
Once again, due to their unfaithfulness to God, the Israelites find themselves dominated by the Philistines. The whole book of Judges is a sad repetition of a destructive cycle. First, they experience God's blessing and deliverance. Next, they become complacent and unfaithful, doing evil and turning to false gods. Third, God turns them over to their falsehood and they become oppressed. Then, they cry out to God for help and God sends a deliverer. When they are liberated and back on their feet, they become complacent and once again turn away from God.
Response and Action:
I do not want to live my life in a constantly repeating cycle of rebellion, hardship, repentance, restoration, and rebellion. I want to turn to God, surrender to his will, and walk in his ways. I want to be transformed by God, to live according to his word, to honor him with my life, and to walk in his ways. With God's help, I can break the chain of repeated failure and sin.
O God, help me to turn away from what is wrong and to do what is right. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Lead me away from temptation and deliver me from evil. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen me, that I might delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 6:5
"Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler."
New Testament for Today: Hebrews 12:1b-2a
1b "...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2a Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."
In Context: Hebrews 12:1-12
Recommended Reading:
The Smell of Sin: And the Fresh Air of Grace
by Don Everts
