A “through the bible” devotion from Judges 2.
It only took one generation. The people were serious when they promised, “We will serve the Lord” and got rid of their foreign gods (Joshua 24:22,23).
I turn one page in the bible and read, “There arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals” (Judges 2:10,11).
How could that happen? Did no one tell them? Or weren’t they listening? It was probably a combination of both. The powerful accounts of crossing the Jordan on dry ground and watching the wall of Jericho fall were interesting and inspiring. But it wasn’t their experience.
I don’t fully understand my father’s experience of being away from home in the South Pacific for eighteen months during World War II. In a similar way, my grandchildren will never know what it felt like to watch the Twin Trade Towers collapse on September 11, 2001. The youngest of my grandchildren will look at pictures one day and ask, “What were you wearing a mask?” They didn’t live through the uncertain times of a pandemic.
That reality sounds sad until I remember that His story is different than history. The biblical accounts of God at work open our eyes to see him at work in our lives. As we gather for worship and live out our faith in the world, it becomes our experience, too. It is our story.
Someone is always watching you, learning from you. They might be related. They might not. Let them see someone affected by the God who was, and is, and always will be. Let them see someone who loves because they’ve been loved.
Waite for it... 