March 20 Judges 1-2 & 1 Cor. 1:26-2:16

The book of Judges spans the time from Joshua’s death to the begin of the monarchy within Israel. It is a mistake to not listen to the Lord. Yes, it is an easy statement to make and a harder one to live up too. The Israelites had to learn this listen too. Jud. 2:1-2, “A messenger of the LORD . . . said, I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land which I promised on oath to your ancestors. I said, I will never break my covenant with you, but you must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you must pull down their altars. But you did not listen to me. Every action has repercussions. May you choose to listen to the Lord and receive the blessed consequences that come from that. Yet even when the Israelites turned away from the Lord, he did not abandon them. The Lord is the God of second chances.

On the human side, we are always trying to prove ourselves to others or our self. In Christ we do not need to do so, we have only to boast in the Lord. To do so means we are striving to conform our life to Christ. We find the power of Christ in his willingness to be crucified on our behalf, which makes no sense to the world and its ways, but for us who believe it is life. 1 Cor 2:9, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” Till Jesus you love him and let your life flow from that love. Then you will have the mind of Christ.