DCLM Daily Manna 20 December 2021
Topic: Condition For God’s Abiding Presence
TEXT: Judges 1:21-36
KEY VERSE:
“And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.” – (Judges 1:22 )
When Leonard Wood, a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army visited the king of France, he got a special invitation to have a dinner with him the next day. A man of innate humility, Wood gladly honoured the invitation without formal expression. But the king, who was taken back when he saw him, asked, “Why, Sir Leonard? I did not expect to see you. How is it that you are here? Wood was surprisingly embarrassed and queried: “Did not Your Majesty invite me to dine with you? The king replied, “Yes, but you did not answer my invitation”. Then, Wood uttered, “A king’s invitation is never to be answered, but to be obeyed”.
God through Moses had instructed Israel as they possessed the Promised Land not to spare the former inhabitants of the land but to utterly destroy them so that they would not corrupt them. From the text, the house of Joseph obeyed completely and destroyed the city of Luz and renamed it Bethel. Therefore, the Lord was with them in their battles.
Obeying God is often a struggle to many. This is because more often, it always involves parting ways with something precious to us. The Bible expressly commands us, believers, to make God first in everything we do. He must always be the first recourse and not the last. Then it will be easy to obey His words. We also need the grace of God which comes through salvation.
Those who fail to acknowledge God in all they do, run the risk of being abandoned by Him at the hour they need Him most. We must therefore be obedient to His words in return for His faithfulness and continued presence in our lives.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Those who fail to obey God, risk being abandoned by heaven.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Zechariah 10-14
