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Gideon - Part II

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Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Judges 6 : 25, 26

Good morning, friends.

Israelites after getting delivered from the hands of Sisera, again turned to evil and went astray. For seven years they were under the Midianites. They cried unto the Lord when they were not able to withstand the pressure given by the Midianites. So the Lord chose Gideon as a mighty warrior who could lead Israelites. Gideon considered himself as the least among the least, but God made it clear that He would deliver Israelites from the hands of Midianites through Gideon.

Gideon asked, "But Lord how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."
Gideon was very happy that he spoke to the Lord and so he built an altar to the LORD there and called it ‘The LORD is Peace’. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

Gideon spoke to the Lord. He loved to build an altar to this Lord and he did it. But he didn’t cut down the altars which his father established.

To put it concrete and short, speaking to God, strengthened by His Word, building an altar to the Lord with the throne of praise and sacrifices are not at all enough. It’s good to sing praises to His name and giving offerings. But the true deliverance will come only when we tear down the extra altars which we ourselves built inside our hearts for anything other than God. God will guide us, will speak to us, will strengthen us, but if we want God to be pleased by our lives, we need to remove and tear down all the other altars we built so far by our own flesh. Be it for money, for pleasures, for our own job, family or anything you can add to the list. Bible clearly says we can not serve two masters. It also says anyone who loves anything/anyone more than God is not a follower of Christ.

Friends, as you read this today, just search your heart and if you see you have other altars deep inside, the true deliverance has not yet come. You’ll see it only when you throw aside all the things that are standing as barriers between you and God. God doesn’t only want you to tear down the altars, but He also wants you to build the altar on the top of the other altars. I understand it like, we should prioritize God than to the anything else, because He alone is worthy of our love. Nothing can match His matchless names. Deliverance is on your way! Are you willing to be really delivered?

To be continued…
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