Righteous Rule

 ”Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”“ Judges 8:22-23 NKJV

When Gideon rejected the offer to rule over Israel, he must have been guided by the danger of being entrusted with an absolute power. It is always important to be sensitive to the difference between reign and rule. Reigning is synonymous to leadership, while ruling is tantamount to lordship. Unfortunately, not many people are conscious of the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even Gideon, after the express declaration of his motive against lordship over Israel, he subscribed into a snare through his trust in a golden ornament or ephod: ”Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house (Judges 8:27)”. It came to show that human motive for a righteous rule of the Almighty God over our affairs is always not enough. The heart of man must learn how to meditate daily on the words of the Lord. Otherwise, the human motives can be easily ensnared by the material things of this world, especially after a long pursuit of excellence through godliness. Therefore, a righteous rule is a rule by the grace of God, where the heart is consistently taught how to deny ungodliness and worldly lust with obedience to the words of God and prayer.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loved Life

  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. ”” Galatians 2 : 20 - 21 NKJV Loosed lives often fake liberalism as freedom of expression and privilege to be controlled by societal influences. But in actual fact, this fake liberalism is an expression of an absence of the love that matters, i.e., God’s love. God’s love brings grace through the death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So, when Apostle Paul shared the testament of his loved life as “ I have been crucified with Christ “, it confirms that a loved life is a crucified life; and not a copied life. Unfortunately, in our fast-paced world with complex worldviews on diverse subjects, a copied life is faced with complicated opinions on diverse cultural, political, an...
Read more

Peaceful Pathway

  “ Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. ” II Thessalonians 3 : 16 NKJV Truth be told, the pursuit of righteousness is simply and straightforwardly the following of the right pathway, not necessarily the safe, the polite, and the popular pathway. Little wonder Martin Luther King once said, ‘On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “ Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “ Is it polite?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “ Is it popular? ” But Conscience asks the question, “ Is it right? ”’. Unfortunately, finding the right pathway is not up to philosophers, psychologists, and politicians in our world, to whom there is no such thing as absolute truth. Whereas, the pursuit of the right pathway is the following of the One who says “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me ( John 14 : 6 )”. Jesus is the only Giver of peace; He gives grace, guidance, and ...
Read more

Wrangled Way

  “ Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. ” Psalms 119 : 1 - 3 NKJV There is no doubt that those who abuse the grace of God have little or no understanding of the concept of the narrow way. For  “ Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it ” ( Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭14‬).  The narrow way cannot be widened because it is not only strait , it is extremely wrangled. So, when the scriptures proclaimed the blessedness of “ the undefiled in the way ”, it merely commends their consecration to righteousness and commitment to the wrangled way. The wrangled ways are the divine molding wheels for forming God’s children into His effective a...
Read more