Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why You Should Go After What You Want | Judges | Judges 3:7-11

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're going through the Book of Judges. If you haven't subscribed to our new podcast, Truth Over Tribe, I'd encourage you to take some time and go do that right now. We've got interviews about culture, politics, and the things you really care about with people like John Mark Comer, John Tyson, Oz Guinness, and many, many others. It's going to be a great podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:33 I've been excited about the interviews and the topics that we've taken on. So stop right now. Go subscribe to Truth Over Tribe on your podcast player. I've been thinking about Bob Goff. And if you don't know that name, he's an author. He's written several books. But he's also the founder of an organization called Love Does. And I've been thinking about him because his organization built a school for girls in

Starting point is 00:00:54 Afghanistan in 2018. Love Does has schools and foundations in several different conflict zones. But like many of you, my heart, of course, is hell. heavy for our sisters and brothers in Afghanistan. I've been praying for the safety of the girls and the teachers in that school. But I've also had Bob in my mind because one of his audio books is on replay in my car. I've already listened to it once, so I'm not sure why my phone chose to pick it over again, but I like the book.

Starting point is 00:01:21 It doesn't hurt to hear it. He keeps reminding me that what I do today matters. How I take my ambition into action, it's relevant, and it's necessary in God's kingdom. Last year, when schools were online and kids and families were learning and working from home, I saw a Facebook post that caught my attention. And at the time, I felt a little bit under the pile. But later, I was intrigued, and then I was inspired. See, one of our local friends showed a picture of her eighth grader who'd just finished reading 90 books.

Starting point is 00:01:53 I zoomed in on the photo, and I saw classics in his hand that I really wished I had read. She said that he'd made a practice to read every day for about 90 minutes. I think she said he made himself a couple of times. coffee or a cocoa and sat down and just did it. I think it's cool because he understands something that we do, that what we choose to do today matters. But not only did he understand it, he did something about it. He could have chosen to binge watch Netflix all day. I don't know. Maybe he did that too, but he also made time to read almost the entire work of C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, and J.K. Rowling. Let's just admit it, we all wish we could have a cup of coffee and chat.

Starting point is 00:02:33 with someone like that. Today we're picking up in judges where we see how God works with human ambition to make his world better. In Judges 3, we meet Osniel. He's the first judge God gave the Israelites in their cycle of rebellion, captivity, and rescue. Here's how the situation is going. Judges 3.7. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and serve the Bales and the Asheris. And the anger of the Lord burned against Israel. So he sold them into the hands of Kashan, Rasha Thameh, king of Aram, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. The situation for the Israelites is dark. They have little visible hope of escaping the tyranny of the evil king and his regime that they're living under. The situation is

Starting point is 00:03:22 also dark because God's people had lost sight of God. And they were living so much outside of his commands that he was burning in anger against them. They were without hope. and without the light that God and his people bring into this world. They were unable to save themselves. But when they cried out to God, he raised up someone to save them. And his name was Osniel. From Judges 3-9, we see that when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer named Othneal,

Starting point is 00:03:53 son of Kina's Caleb Juncker brother. And the spirit of the Lord came on him so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. So here in verse 9, we have his name. name and his family, we find out that he was Caleb's nephew. But the text assumes you also know Othneill's background from Judges Chapter 1. God could raise anyone up, of course, but the Bible gives us information about Othneal that shed some light on who he is. In chapter 1, Caleb was looking for a very good husband for his daughter. He promised her hand and a dowry to the man who was brave

Starting point is 00:04:30 enough to step up and defeat an evil king. And Athneal rose to the occasion. He made himself a war hero, and he received Axa in marriage. Atheneal's action reveals something about his desires. He had a desire for more, more land, and a valuable partner to join him in this journey, and Athneal was willing to go into battle to earn it. But the Bible also tells us something about his new wife, Axa. She had a rich heritage and a good family, but she brought her own qualities, her own desires, and her own ambitions into the marriage. She urged her husband to ask her father for a field, and because it was in a dry part of the region, she also asked for springs to water it. Axad didn't want to just live in the land. She wanted to cultivate it. She was aspiring and ambitious.

Starting point is 00:05:22 So, Othniel, the first judge, he wasn't lazy and he wasn't passive. He didn't wait for things to come to him or to be solved by someone else. He went after it. He had a desire for more for himself, his family, and his nation. And God worked with Atheneal's ambitions and his actions to prepare him to be the first judge of Israel. So when Atheneal went to war against the king of Aram, he had practice. Remember, he already won a battle to win Axa. And he had the spirit of the Lord on him, and he had hope. And God used all of that. these. And from Judges 310, it says gave Kushan Rasha-Thame king of Aram into Atheniel's hands, who overpowered him. What longings has God put in your heart? Do you want to help pay for kids to go

Starting point is 00:06:12 to summer camp or on a mission trip? Do you want to be an adventure guide that leads people through the mountains where God's beauty is unmatched? Do you want to solve algorithms? Do you want to make it so more people can have access to faith-filled podcast or TV series. Do you want to create social media posts that have a meaningful voice? Do you want to develop future leaders who go to other countries to teach the Bible? One of the things on your mind when you wake up at night or where you're alone on the trail or when you're sitting around the coffee table with your friends, you need to start taking action steps that make your desires happen.

Starting point is 00:06:51 If you want to send kids, maybe you need to start a fine. Maybe you need to find out a way for others to join. If you want to be a guide in the mountains, you probably need to find a course on orientering. How you spend your time today is your ambitions practice. A marching band, they spend an entire year practicing for the Rose Bowl parade. Your daily practice prepares you for something bigger. Are you practicing well?

Starting point is 00:07:19 And are your practices in line with your desires, in line with gods? When I graduated from college, I didn't know how to cook. I made lasagna from a chef-weary box and a package of Kraft American singles. I had no idea how to cut up an onion or why you would need an onion. But I was committed to making terrible food because I had a desire to cook. It was 2001 and Sarah Moulton had a show on the Food Network called Cooking Live with Sarah. And she'd announced what she was going to cook the next day on the end of her show and tell you what ingredients you needed to have to cook along.

Starting point is 00:07:56 So I'd stop by the grocery store on my way home from work. I'd pick up the ingredients and I'd cook with her from 6 to 7 p.m. I couldn't be late because we didn't have DVR, so I was prompt and dedicated, but I learned to cook, not great but good enough. And you know what I discovered? Acting on that desire actually helped me accomplish a greater desire, which is to sit down with people I love,

Starting point is 00:08:21 or people I want to grow to love and have a genuine conversation about things that matter. And a decent meal has somehow helped that happen for the last 20 or so years. You know, I talked to that kid's mom, the one who read all the books, and she said, do you want to hear what really motivated him? Of course. So she said he read because he wanted to be able to buy parts for his computer. He wanted to rebuild a computer, and so his mom promised him $20,000. for every ten books that he read.

Starting point is 00:08:54 He saw it as the quickest way to get when he needed. What he got out of a desire for more computer parts is a lift for reading that will hopefully last a lifetime. And he didn't know it maybe at the time, but his mom had a desire for something bigger too, and she had her own way of putting it into action. You might have a desire that will grow into something bigger. Atheniel did.

Starting point is 00:09:17 His desire for a wife and a piece of the land prepared him to go into battle as a rescuer for God's people. Maybe you can't see to the other side of your desire until you start putting some things into action. Or maybe God will grow and shift your desires as you become more like him. Who knows? But really, I think Judges III helps us see

Starting point is 00:09:38 there aren't any excuses. That eighth grader didn't let a pandemic be an excuse to keep him from reading. He used it to his advantage. And Othneill, well, he couldn't have been asked to lead a tougher crowd. These were people who had forgotten their desire for something so much better than the false idols they were worshipping. They'd forgotten their desire for God.

Starting point is 00:10:01 Romans 1211 says, Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Where have you seen your zeal atrophy from being online and at home? And can you flex those muscles and step out again to form meaningful relationships and develop real community? Can you step out and serve people who are in need? And what do you think is making it easy for you to take a passive approach to your commitments right now? Can you set those excuses aside and start taking some risks again?

Starting point is 00:10:34 I don't mean risking your health or your safety. I mean risking your comfort, your time, your pleasure to make meaningful things happen for God's kingdom. What might be hovering just outside your comfort zone right now? Can you give that desire or that ambition your Christ-like focus and attention and see where it leads you? Let's renew our zeal to be active, ambitious, hopeful cultivators in God's kingdom. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily.

Starting point is 00:11:14 Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with, texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why You Should Go After What You Want | Judges | Judges 3:7-11

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