FOLLOW THE LEADER

READINGS: GENESIS 12:1-5, JUDGES 11:29-40

Judges 11:30, 31 – “And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said ...‘whatever comes out of the doors of my house...I will offer it up as a burnt offering’”


Genesis 12:4 – “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy–five years old when he departed from Haran." It is far better for us when we follow in agreement with God rather than getting Him to permit our conclusions and our intentions. Jephthah’s experience is a case in point. The vow he made of his own volition as described in Judges 11, resulted in a horrible disaster. The consequence of the vow was that, in order in order to keep it, he had to sacrifice his daughter’s life. He chose a condition for himself, that caused a great loss to be suffered. On the other hand, in Genesis 12, we read of Abram saying “Yes” to the Lord, then obeying and following as God had chosen. The results obtained are historically glorious just as God had promised in verse 3. He fathered a great nation and all the families of the earth have been blessed. What an immense contrast between the two. It conclusively demonstrates that we should not create our own directions for our futures, about which we are relegated to total blindness. We should wait on the Lord and not take the lead. He understands our blindness and His scriptural promise is to lead we who are blind in paths we don’t know. Psalm 27:14 states it well. “...Wait, I say, on the Lord!” That’s a thought about God’s word.

RESPONSE

1. Fill in the blanks:
A. “I lead when I should be following ___% of the time.”
B. “I see the need to ___________________________.”