5 minute read
Reflection
A foot in both camps
Lyn Woods highlights the challenge of putting God first in our lives
HOW many of us have tried to live a Spirit-filled life of obedience, while still indulging in the material, financial and physical trappings of this world? I know I have.
At the same time as striving to please God and achieve holy living I have wrestled with all the unsettling feelings that having a foot in both camps brings. It took me far longer than it should have to be convicted of the truth that it is not only unsustainable as a Christian but also completely against God’s will.
That is not to say that we shouldn’t strive to be the best possible version of ourselves or to be successful in our endeavours and enjoy the wonderful things life has to offer. But when our choices and activities are worldly or sinful or become our main focus as idols placed ahead of our one true God, or if our gifts are not used in the furtherance of his Kingdom, there emerges a real problem.
In the Old Testament the early prophets spoke many times on this important matter. Elijah stood before the people and asked, ‘How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!’ (1 Kings 18:21 New Living Translation).
The sin of the people had not been in rejecting the Lord but in trying to combine worship of him with worship of Baal, the Canaanite god. But worship of the Lord left no room for other gods. The people needed to be aware that continually switching from one side to the other was not right or in keeping with God’s commandments. They had a choice to make. Which camp were they in – the Lord’s or Baal’s?
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus makes a similar challenge in connection with material possessions. He tells the crowd: ‘No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money’ (NLT). Later, Paul tells the Christians at Corinth that they cannot worship the Lord and still take part in the pagan festivities of their former lives: ‘You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s table and at the table of demons, too’ (1 Corinthians 10:21 NLT).
This doesn’t mean that a life lived according to God’s will – with our tent pitched firmly in his camp – will be bland or devoid of good things. Quite the opposite. Jesus promises that his followers will have life in all its fullness: ‘My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life’ (John 10:10 NLT).
There is real danger in having a foot in both camps. It can negatively impact our spiritual lives by lessening our devotion to God and our willingness to obey him in all things. Our double-standards can also affect the people around us – our witness can be compromised, because actions speak louder than words, and we can find ourselves unable to see and respond to the needs of others.
May God guide us through his Holy Spirit to keep our feet firmly in the Lord’s camp.
Breathe on me, breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what thou dost love And do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, breath of God, Until my heart is pure, Until with thee I will one will To do and to endure.
Breathe on me, breath of God, Till I am wholly thine. Until this earthly part of me Glows with thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, breath of God, So shall I never die, But live with thee the perfect life Of thine eternity.
(SASB 294)
LYN WOODS
Editorial Assistant Salvationist
Just once more, Lord
Major Mal Davies looks at Gideon’s testing and re-testing of God
JUDGES 6:25–41
CHAPTER 6 of Judges starts with the calling of Gideon, a ‘mighty warrior’ (v12) tasked with leading his people who – once again – had turned their backs to God.
Gideon receives his first divine call to action and God asks him to tear down an altar to Baal (a foreign god) and an Asherah pole beside it. Asherah was the name of the wife of El, the chief Canaanite god and the pole would have been a wooden symbolic representation of her, akin to the totem poles used by many indigenous people in tribal worship.
Gideon did as he was requested and then built an altar to God where the altar and pole had been. This displeased the locals and they demanded of Gideon’s father, Joash, that he be presented to them and put to death.
Joash, however, defended his son: ‘Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? … If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar’ (v31).
QUESTIONS
Despite being unsure of God’s calling on his life and afraid of the consequences of his actions, Gideon does act. Can you recall a time you stepped out in faith and did something for God? What were you scared of?
Having survived that minor threat, Gideon faces a much larger one – a massive army is assembled from different regions that are antagonistic towards Israel, and they gather in the Jezreel Valley preparing to launch an attack.
The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Gideon (see v34) and he assembles a fighting force to confront the attackers.
QUESTIONS
Does this imply that the Spirit of the Lord wasn’t already with Gideon? (See also 1 Samuel 16:13 and 14, Judges 14:6 and 1 Chronicles 12:18.) How did the Spirit’s presence with us change after Christ’s ascension? (See Acts 2:4, 17 and 38, and John 14:15–17.)
Despite that, and even with God assuring him of victory (see Judges 6:14 and 16), Gideon is still uncertain. In verse 36 we read that Gideon strikes a deal with God in which he – seeking
Through the week with Salvationist
– a devotional thought for each day
by Major Howard Webber
SUNDAY
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’
(Mark 9:24)
MONDAY
In the past too unbelieving/ ’Midst the tempest I have been,/ And my heart has slowly trusted/ What my eyes have never seen./ Blessèd Jesus,/ Teach me on thy arm to lean. (SASB 244)
TUESDAY
Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?’
(2 Kings 20:8)
