Judges 1:28   And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

Once, on a Monday, some friends of mine who were the football coaches were discus-sing their game Friday that had not gone as planned. They had developed a sure-fire play but the team did not execute. When they called a time-out to ask the players what had happened, one player began his explanation of why he hadn’t followed the play with, “Well, I thought…” That was about as far as he got. My friends ‘explained’ to him that his role was to execute, not to ‘think’!

The Israelites have finished their wilderness wanderings and have entered the Promis-ed Land with Joshua in command. Many victories have been won but now Joshua has died. Now the completion of the plan is up to them. If you’ve ever read the book of Judges before, you know that it is one sad story after another. In chapter one we see why.

The problem wasn’t that they were week. We read in today’s verse that they were strong. But they decided that a partial obedience would suffice. They could do most of what God directed and then benefit from their part of the plan as well. Rather than a complete separation from the Canannites, they decided to use them for their own benefit. As it turns out, when it comes to God, partial obedience is just a longer way of saying ‘disobedience.’ And it went about as we might expect.

God is still calling His people to a program of elimination. But in our case, it is sin that He wants to eliminate from our lives. We can’t do it on our own, of course. But God won’t do it all on His own. He expects our participation. When we have given our hearts to Him, after He has forgiven us, He calls on us to change. The mindset and habits that we used to have must be changed so that we might live a righteous life before Him. What needs to change? I don’t know what that would be for you. But I do know that God will direct the project. He will show you if you are sincere about following Him. When He does begin to show you, then it will be your turn to obey.

Remember: partial obedience is just a longer way of saying ‘disobedience.’

 

Blessings,

Pastor Russ