Thank the Lord

In my reading today I came across this passage in the book of Judges. If you've never read it before, Judges is a fairly accurate summary of most of our lives. The people of Israel "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" over and over again. They would serve other gods, not follow his commandments, and for the most part dishonor God in every way. Very few were faithful in this time, and at the end of it they would be in trouble. They typically ended up in oppression to people like the Philistines or the Midianites, and once they were miserable enough they would repent and call out to God. This text grabbed my heart today as I read it, thanking Him that this was never His response to me:

"And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel."

I don't feel that different from the Israelites in Judges. God will often take action in convincing fashion all around me. I see lives changed at a camp, people healed, addictions cured, and hope rekindled quite often. Just like the Israelites saw deliverance from oppressors and slavery, miracles, punishment for sin, and the Red Sea parted in front of them. Most of the time we can objectify ourselves from stories, thinking, "How could they forget that easily? If I had seen what they had seen, I would never forget!" I think it almost every day. But the reality is, we would/do forget. I can't imagine if those same Israelites were alive today, would they be looking at us thinking, "How could they forget? If I had seen Jesus die on the cross like they have seen, I would never forget!"

We tend to romanticize everything but the present, and the present says this- "You have seen. You know the truth. You have heard about this Jesus. You know the price He paid for you. It is real. Follow Him." It is enough. He has done more than enough for us. I thank God that His response to me when I cried out to Him wasn't, "Did I not save you from her? Did I not save you from lust? Did I not save you from pride? You cried out to me and I delivered you from their hands. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”

Oh how I thank God that He is more than patient with me! That when I have chased after idols and foolishness he never responded in that way! His response was always, "I have saved you, I have made you righteous!" The gods I pursued could never have saved me, but God did!

I finished my reading today with 2 Corinthians 5:21- "God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

He made the way, He solved the problem, He sent His Son, He was perfect, HE SAVES. Thank God that He saves. To Him be the glory.