Learn From Gideon, 20

~ Doing The Right Thing Is Often Unpopular With Others ~

The Biblical account of the life of Gideon provides for one of the most interesting character studies in all of Scripture.  In this series we will discover practical lessons for living the Christian life today.  

Scripture  ~  ‘And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.  So they said to one another, ‘Who has done this thing?’  And when they had inquired and asked, they said, ‘Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.’  Then the men of the city said to Joash, ‘Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it’” (Judges 6:28-30).

Learn From Gideon  ~  Many times choosing to do what God wants you to do will make you unpopular with others.

1. To honor God with your life will at times require personal sacrifice.  “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
2. Life is full of choices and priorities.  “Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29).
3. This does not surprise God.  Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
4. Even during difficult times God’s peace and divine inner joy are present in the lives of those living close to God.  In the previous verse we find “you may have peace” and “be of good cheer.”  “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3).
5. Think long-term rather than short-term.  “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works’” (Matthew 16:24-27).
6. Ultimately we will receive punishment or rewards.  “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

concluding comment  ~  We learn about Gideon primarily from Judges 6-8, but also Isaiah 9:1-7, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-34.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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