How well do you hold it together? What or who is the reason you can hold it together? What happens when that reason is no longer there for you? Do you fall apart? Do you start going down a bad path? Do you feel like you have been left all alone?
Sometimes we are able to stay on the straight and narrow because there is someone in our life that we aspire to be like. The inspiration the other person provides is enough to help us continue a good path. Then when that person is gone, we fall apart and lose control.
We may stay on a good path as we pursue a goal. We strive for it, putting all our effort into achieving it. Then we accomplish our goal, and we stop doing what got us there. We let out all those pent-up desires we didn’t dare allow ourselves to do while pursuing our goal. The next thing we know we have fallen from grace.
The Israelites had this occur to them on several occasions. In today’s passage, it happened after Ehud died. He was a man of God who was sent on a mission to free the Israelites from fear of the Moabites. He carried out God’s plan and the Israelites continued to follow God until he died. But when he died, they fell apart and started pursuing everything but God.
When our stabilizing force in this life is gone, it can be challenging to continue on a righteous path. There is only one way we can stick with it. We must rely on God to guide us. He has given us his Holy Spirit to be with us through everything we experience and to be our guide when we feel as though we are rudderless. We have the gift of the Spirit the Israelites did not have. We are blessed to have the Spirit of God living within us.
I pray we all seek God, especially when our inspiration on this earth is gone. I pray we listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to us. I pray each one of us will continue the righteous path for our entire lives. Hold onto your inspiration. Make God your inspiration. Listen for his Spirit to guide you.
Judges 4:1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died.
Marty Pressey 