Passage: Judges 7:1-8
“With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands”. Judg 7:7-8 NIV
When Gideon beckoned people to war, the line up was 32,000 strong! But the enemy force was so big, like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number (Judges 7:12). Gideon thought he needed more people to fight, but God said the force with him was too big. “Let the fearful turn back and leave,” announced Gideon. Twenty-two thousand left, and ten thousand remained. The fearful have no place in God’s army!
Gideon might have been somewhat annoyed to see such a retreat. What could he do with a mere ten thousand, when the enemy force is like sand on the seashore! But, God said the number is still too big. Another screening was needed.
Gideon took the men down to the water, that they may drink! Three hundred men lapped the water up with their tongues like a dog. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped, I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands”
Why are those who lapped up the water with their tongue competent for war and those who sat down incompetent?
Watch the dog! Its eyes are opened when it drinks water (not like a cat that drinks milk). It doesn’t look at the water, but at the sides. A dog is watchful even when it drinks water.
Those who lapped up the water with their tongue are watchful even in times of comfort. They have only one thing in their eyes- WAR! We are at war with our enemy, Satan. Those who sat down, water was their priority, not war.
God doesn’t want us to forget our mission when we are comfortable. You need to drink water, but water should not drink you. Look, these 9,700 people who were rejected by the Lord were not fearful (they didn’t leave the army when the fearful were asked to leave) but they were not watchful. God wants us not only to be fearless, but also to be watchful.
Prayer: Lord, I don’t want to be eaten up by my comforts. Help me to see only the furtherance of Thy kingdom in my eyes! Amen.
Further reading: 1 Peter 5:6-11; 1 Cor 7:28-31.
