Ask First

 DEVOTION

JUDGES 1

ASK FIRST

Judges 1:1-8

1:1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?" 2 The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands." 3 Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them. 4 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

NIV

There are some interesting stories in these first several verses but the most important lesson we learn is in the first verse. Joshua was a humble and courageous leader of Israel after Moses another humble and courageous leader of the children of Israel died, and now Joshua is gone the way of the earth. This leaves no single leader of all the tribes; however, the Israelites asked the LORD, “Who will be the first to up and fight against the Canaanites?” Although the LORD answered and told them that Judah was to go, they made a covenant with the Simeonites. We know, from maps, that the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon lay right in the middle of the land the tribe of Judah inherited. So it made sense they would ask them to fight with them. However, the lesson is still in the first verse. Before the Israelites did anything, they asked the LORD. Because they not only asked, but they did as the LORD said and therefore the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands. They asked, He answered, and they obeyed. That is the story in a nutshell, and we would do well to live in the same manner regarding all of our days. Before we make any move, and before that, any decision regarding any move from where we are, we need to seek the guidance of our Lord. Of course, this is not about moving our household, although it could be, but most of the time it is about making any change in our lives. Perhaps moving, but also about changing positions at our jobs, professions, or place in the body of Christ, or in the way we serve him. Before we accept change in our service to God, we need to ask him, What should we do?” We know, without a doubt, that if we ask, He will answer, and we then must follow His command. If, or we should say, when we do that, the Lord will give whatever we do into our hands, that is we will have success. That success will not be on account of our great skill, abilities, education, or anything else from our flesh, but only because the Lord will give it into our hands. We should never look into ourselves trying to find our niche in the body of Christ first, then also in our tasks in the world, for surely we might find some degree of success, but it will never equal the success the Lord will accomplish within us as he gives it into our hands. Jesus told us that apart from him we can do nothing. He said that He is the vine and we are the branches, so that if we remain in him we will bear much fruit. However, the opposite happens if we do not remain in him. We are thrown out into the fire and burned. The idea is that before we do anything, ask the Lord, “What are we to do?”, that is remaining in him. Let us always ask first, listen, trust, and obey.