Judges 10-12: Cry to the Gods You Have Chosen

These chapters cause me to think long and hard about what I choose to worship and the consequences.  I say I worship God, just as the Israelites proclaimed that they were God's people, but then my actions often deny what I profess.  I spend too much time taking care of my possessions; financial and physical.  I spend too much time sitting at the throne of technology, enjoying the sensory illusion of happiness that it provides. I entertain myself with the unreal reality of sports, television and movies.  I keep my eyes and ears focused on the weather forecasters and news pundits, thinking they can give me a glimpse of the future.  These are all futile pursuits as God told Israel when they complained because they were being overrun by the Ammonites.

But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” - Judges 10:13-14 NIV

Oh, I don't want to be in that position.  I don't want our country to be in that position, where our fortunes are dependent on the gods that we have chosen.  If the gods of technology and prognostication are what we're serving, we're doomed.  Yet, I can't expect anything around me to change unless there is a sea change in me.  I feel as if I'm doomed.

The Israelites based their change of hearts on what ever leader God provided for them at the time.  Thanks be to God, who once and for all time provided one to show us the way and gave us his Spirit to help us carry out what we are unable to do on our own.

2010 Post - Judges 10-12:  The Prostitutes Son