Judges 6, Proverbs 14, Titus 3

God called Gideon a "mighty man of valor" while he was still hiding in the wine press. God saw what He had in mind for the future.

Gideon could only see the present . . .  and he had questions. "If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?"

God didn't answer Gideon's question. He gave an assignment. This is where we tend to push the pause button in our lives. We want our questions answered before we proceed. But Gideon obeyed.

The first assignment didn't look like what it was. Tearing down idols and thus making the whole community angry might not have been Gideon's idea of valor or how to save Israel from the Midianites. But he obeyed. He trusted God to fit all the pieces together.

Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Verse 14 adds, "The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above."

We who have been saved, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy . . ." have a responsibility "to be ready for every good work." The Bible is full of instructions for right living and we are to follow them. But we are also to follow God's leading in assignments. He lives in us and will, by the Holy Spirit, manifest Himself in such a way as to accomplish His work through us. Even if it doesn't look like what He says it is.

Joshua 24, Proverbs 8, 2 Timothy 1

Just before Joshua died, he called the leaders of Israel together for one purpose: to seal in their minds and hearts devotion to the One True God. He reminded them of all the mighty works of God on their behalf in the past and he cautioned them about the future consequences of changing their minds and following other gods.

Remembering what God has done for us in the past is a powerful tool for sealing our commitment today. Joshua's famous statement in verse 15, ". . . Choose this day whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," voiced what the rest of the people also decided.

There was just one catch. They had to put away their idols. Is it shocking to discover that they possessed idols at this point in their saga? Take a moment to assess where you are in your journey. Do you carry around idols, even though you say you're following God? The consequence of continuing with them is that we become unable to worship and follow God as long as we hold anything back. And that leads to personal chaos.

Choosing to follow God means choosing wisdom over wealth. But the end result is incredible wealth. Does this mean the Lord will give us "silver" or "gold" or "rubies" if we follow Him? Maybe. Maybe not. Tangible silver, gold or rubies, anyway. When we choose to follow the Lord instead of any other thing, that question becomes irrelevant. Our focus changes. We recognize the wealth of our relationship with Him. Verses 30-36 mirror the caution Joshua gave the Israelites. Choose the Lord, because any other choice brings death.

We cannot judge the faith of a person by the outcomes in his life. Paul, by the time he wrote this chapter, had been betrayed by most of his followers in Asia. He actually uses the word "all." He also mentions Timothy's "tears." Life was terribly hard, with little evidence of reward. But Paul never forgot the real wealth of his choice.