No, this guy didn't walk into a bar. His story is completely different. This guy came from a really large family. All of his half-brothers chased him out of their father's house because his mother was a prostitute. They didn't think he was respectable enough. He ended up being a mercenary. He was a strong warrior. In fact, he was a leader of mercenaries.
Eventually, his brothers and the town they lived in were in trouble. Their enemies wanted to take over their land and the town. Someone approached the mercenary and asked this guy to come lead. Can you imagine? After kicking him out, years later they seek him out to rescue them! What would you do, dear reader?
Lo and behold, the mercenary chastized them. Saying, "After you kicked me out, you want me now to save you? I wasn't good enough for you then, but now I am?"
He relented, heard their pleas, and became their salvation.
Oftentimes, we reluctantly admit our need for our Savior, Jesus Christ. This story of Jephthah gives us yet another picture of our relationship with Jesus. We want to hang onto and harbor our sin, but when we are exposed we see our need for Him. We'd prefer to save ourselves and do it our way, but we cannot. We need Him. We need a mighty warrior who will save us from ourselves.
We become our own worst enemies. We need deliverance from our own pride. We need a mighty warrior who will save us from ourselves. God came to earth. We could see, feel, hear, and touch Him. We rejected Him. We still wanted to keep our sin, so we nailed Him on a cross to die. Yet, He resurrected for us and our sake! For you and me, that is how strong Father's love is for us.
Jesus is our Mighty Warrior, our mercenary who has killed our enemies. He has conquered sin and death because we cannot.
Praise Him!
2 comments:
You keep getting better and better at this blogging! Thank you for this post! pax domini. †
You're welcome, David. I just keep pressing on.
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