“And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.”

                                                                -Judges 8:33

Over and over again in the Old Testament, we see that the Israelites faithfulness to God was always dependant on whether or not they had a Godly ruler. If their king or judge was a God-fearing person, then so were they. But as soon as that person died, they would revert back to their sinful, idolatrous lifestyle.

That was the case in the days of Gideon. While he was alive, he kept the Israelites in line, urging the people to serve the Lord. But as it says in today’s passage, they left God “as soon as Gideon was dead.”  This gives us the impression that they never really had it in their heart to begin with! Whether their spiritual experience was just that shallow, or if perhaps they never even had one, we may never know. But one thing we can be sure of is that we must have our own personal relationship with God. 

Think of the Israelites as having been a cold-blooded animal. Such an animal has no way whereby to maintain it’s body temperature, and is thus dependant on heat from the outside world to survive. If found in a warm environment, it is lively and vigorous; if otherwise, it is lazy and despondent.  But on the other hand, a warm-blooded creature has the same body temperature regardless of its surroundings. Whether in a tropical rainforest, or in a snowy blizzard, it doesn’t change.

Cold-blooded animals are paralleled by so called Christians of the 21st century who “serve God” only when surrounded by other Christians. But as soon as their surroundings change, so do they. When around the Godly, they are “Godly”; but when around the sinful, they are sinful. They laugh at jokes they would scorn in Christian company, and maybe even tell a dirty joke or two themself. The music they listen to, the books they read, the television shows they watch – everything changes based on who their with.

A true Christian, however, is not affected in the slightest by his or her surroundings. When around the Godly, they are Godly; when around the sinful, they are….Godly. Whether in church, or in the supermarket, their identity remains unchanged. This is the same mind that was in Christ Himself, Who preached the truth when people flocked to Him by the thousands, and when His best friends on earth forsook Him and went their own way.

I know that I usually don’t say this much about a single verse, but I feel such a need to share this with you. I think it’s a message that we all need to be reminded of. Your relationship with God should be just that: your relationship with God. Not your parent’s; not your pastor’s; and not your friend’s. It has to be a genuine, life-changing experience.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

                                             -II Corinthians 5:17