In our last visit I introduced some thoughts on the Book of Judges. This is a book that emphasizes that if we are not careful we will pollute our possessions or lose them. This is captured in Judges 1:28, “And it came about when Israel became strong that they put the Canaanites to forced labor but they did not drive them out completely.”
If you read the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua you’ll find the challenge God gave to Israel: they were to possess the land. In doing this they were to drive out the inhabitants and annihilate them. They were not to compromise in any way. But Joshua 1:28 says that when they got secure in the land, were in the majority and had control, rather than get rid of all the inhabitants, they put them to forced labor. They would be cheap labor and so they took advantage of them. That was compromise.
They did not drive them out completely as God had commanded and they became a stumbling block for them over and over again. In fact, in the very last verse of the Book of Judges it says, “Everyone did as he saw fit.” Or as the King James version puts it, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
The people of God are to do what is right in God’s eyes, not their own. That’s what’s involved in becoming a Christian as well as to live the Christian life. If you’ve never taken this step of faith, I’d encourage you to turn to Jesus Christ and trust in Him now. Then ask God to make you the kind of person he wants you to be.
