Learn From Gideon, 49

~ Learn From History ~

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  ~  “Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel” (Judges 8:34-35)

Learn From Gideon  ~  We should learn from history—but we don’t.   

1. We don’t even learn from our personal history!  We forget both our personal and national history (see the previous post in this series). 
2. We do not retain the lessons of history.
3. Man’s heart is desperately wicked and deceitful.  “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?  I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
4. Sin has consequences—but not always immediately.  Gideon’s sins had consequences and so do ours.  “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:24b).  “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:22).
5. Fortunately God has provided a Savior—His Son Jesus Christ.  “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:14-17). 

Challenge For Us  ~  Do you seek God consistently in the good times? 

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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