Series Gideon
Text: Judges 6:25-32
Like Gideon, God meets us where we are at, but he will not leave us there. God wants us to flourish and for us and Gideon to do this, God will call us to tear down the old ways. For Gideon, God was calling him to walk away from the old ways.
You might say this is part two of Gideon’s calling. In this passage, we see two altars built and both are deepening faith moments.
God calls Gideon to deal with his idols by tearing down the old altar. God is calling him to walk away from the symbols and places that defined who he was–like his family Some may read the passage and see in verse 27 that he is scared. Yes, he is scared.
It is easy to move from fear to faith to faith in God. It is no easy journey to walk away from your idols and begin a new path. Not everyone in our life is going to understand that transformation and sometimes we need to be wise about how we share our new faith.
The next morning the community around Gideon were not happy. He had torn down the altar his father had built to another God and they wanted to kill him for it. But Joash, that is Gideon’s father, seems to be moved either by his love for his son or the new message he preaches. I would guess both. There is a good chance Gideon’s father knew something was going on. In verse 31, Gideon’s father asked the community “are you really going to plead a false god’s cause?” It is as if in that moment there is little glimpse in which they remember who they are called to be, and now are in tension.
I wonder to what false gods we have built altars to in our own life? It is worth a reflection.
Like Gideon, Jesus stands before us as a new and better altar. Gideon’s community was not able to enter into who God created them to be because of their unbelief. The promise of a flourishing life still stands before us today. In Jesus, we have a great high priest who serves at the altar of God set up by God. Jesus died as a ransom to set us free from our sin and give us and lead us to the flourishing life. God’s desire is for us to flourish, but unbelief keeps us away.
Like Gideon did before his family, Jesus stands before us and calls us to God the Father. We can not have two alters in our life. God meets us where we are at, but he will not leave us there. God wants us to flourish and for us and Gideon to do this, God will call us to tear down the old ways. For Gideon, God was calling him to walk away from the old ways, the things he trusted before, and put his trust in the LORD.
Where do you need to do that today in your life? What idols are you needing to repent of? Ask him for help?