Judges 4:20-21
- Stand
in the doorway of the tent, he told her. If someone comes by and asks you, is
anyone here? Say no. But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer
and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg
through his temple into the ground, and he died. NIV
My daughter bought me the Bible on CD for Christmas
and I enjoy listening to it while I do my work-out on the treadmill. As I was
listening to the end of chapter 4 from Judges I began to laugh. This passage
described the downfall of Sisera, the commander of the armies of Jabin, the
Canaanite king to whom God had given over the Israelites, due to the evil they
had committed in his sight. It struck me as hilarious that after Jael drove a
tent peg through Sisera's temple that the next words were, and he died. The
whole scene was one of such violence it seemed to go without saying that indeed
surely he would be dead.
But as I laughed amidst my pounding along on my
treadmill, this vision of a tent peg being driven through someone's temple,
causing death, suddenly brought another thought to my mind.
"Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will
is-his good, pleasing and perfect will."
(Romans
12:2 NIV)
The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and
thus became captives of the ungodly Jabin, a king of Canaan. When we conform to
the pattern of this world, we also do evil in the sight of the Lord and we
become captives of that evil. It invades our minds, our thoughts, our actions
and the only way back to freedom in Christ, is to drive the tent peg of God's
truth through Scripture into the lies, to which we have fallen prey that they
too might die through the transformation and renewal of our minds.
Suddenly I wasn't laughing anymore. I was amazed at
the sobering power and truth of this thought. Being able to test and approve
what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will should be our goal as his
children. And how can we achieve this goal if indeed we are not willing to allow
Scripture on a regular basis to transform and renew our minds according to His
truth? His truth which much like Jael's tent peg has the power to kill the lies
of the Prince of this world who continually seeks to recapture the minds' of
Gods' children and lure us back into the conformity of this world.
Prayer: Father God help us this day to allow the truth
of your word to be driven deeply into our minds that we may no longer conform in
any way shape or form to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of our minds, that we might be able to test and approve what your will
is-your good, pleasing and perfect will. In Christ's name we ask. Amen.
Lynne Phipps
lynnephipps@hotmail.com
Atlin, B.C.
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