Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Waiting For the Dead

Judges 5:24-28

Sisera was the captain of the army of Canaan, an army so strong that he had amassed 900 chariots of iron. However, his strength came to naught when the prophetess Deborah told General Barak to take the armies of the Lord into battle against the heathen general. He fled on foot into the tent of a supposed friend, who killed him by driving a spike through his skull (Judges 4:17-21).

The song of Deborah and Barak encompasses the fifth chapter of Judges, and Deborah sings of Sisera’s mother looking out a window in her home, waiting for him to return. She is waiting for someone who is not coming back, because unknown to her, Sisera is dead. Her want for “knowledge of the truth” has deceived her.

Paul told young Timothy that there would be many in these final hours that were, “ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). In many cases, people are waiting for things to come to pass or hoping for answers, but they have little knowledge of the truth. These things are like waiting for the dead; wait all you want, but they will never happen.

If you are waiting for peace without turning to the prince of peace, Jesus Christ, then you are waiting for the dead. No peace comes without the peace that Jesus gave to His disciples (John 14:27). Accept by faith that Jesus has made peace with the Father concerning your sins and trespasses (Romans 5:1).

If you are waiting for salvation to come from your labor, then you are waiting for the dead (Galatians 2:21). Jesus said that salvation comes from believing on the Son, and that if your faith is not on the Son (Jesus), then you have God’s wrath abiding on you (John 3:36).

If you are waiting on promotion to leadership without first learning to follow, then you are waiting for the dead. Jesus spoke to His disciples, who twice could not resolve the issue of who would be the greatest among them (Luke 9:46 & Luke 22:24-27), telling them that if they wished to be great they must first learn to serve. Remember that the less is always blessed of the better (Hebrews 7:7), so be ready to be the blessing if you wish to be the truly blessed.

Finally, if you are waiting for Jesus to return, then you are NOT waiting for the dead; you are waiting for the living. “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Wait with all patience on Christ to do His great work in you today. Go in His blessings and His kindness, with a full assurance that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

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