Verse of the day: Judges 13:3-5, And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
The theme in the Book of Judges is that Israel continually did that which was right in their own eyes. This time, God delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. However, God already had a plan to deliver His stubborn, stiff-necked, people once again. Their judge was not yet born, but even before he was conceived, God set a plan in motion for his life. Our All-knowing God, who is All-powerful, has a plan for each and every one of us. Before we were even conceived, He knew which one of us, and how many of us, would call upon Jesus for eternal life. He knew we would be His children before we were even thought of by our parents. Not only did He know that we would be a part of His family, but He knew us. Psalm 139:13-16 tells us, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” The Prophet Jeremiah wrote this about God choosing him before his birth in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” The Apostle Paul wrote this in Galatians 1:15, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace”. If you are reading this, and are a born again Christian, but are not living for, or serving, the LORD, I ask, “What are you waiting for?” “Do you not know that God set you apart for His purpose?” God has a plan that He has set us apart for, but we are not going to know what that plan is until we choose to live a life set apart from this world. Before Samson was born, God had already set him apart to the extent that his mother was not even to drink wine or anything similar to it. He was not to even cut his hair. Today, God calls us to live for Him and serve Him, not in the same manner that the world prescribes, but by being so different from the world, that it would take notice. 1 Corinthians 6:17 clearly tells us, “Therefore, ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’” So often I hear both Christians and unsaved people ask, “Why am I here?” “What is my purpose in life?” For the Christian, we are here to glorify God with our lives. We are not to live like the world, but seek the things of God and serve Him alone. For the unsaved person, the person who does not yet know Jesus personally, your purpose in life first begins with calling upon Jesus and asking Him to forgive you, and save you, trusting Him alone for eternal life, and not your own works and religious rituals. Once you have done that, you will begin your journey to finding out what God’s plan is for your life in Christ Jesus. Christian, if you are not serving God and serving the gods of this world (money, success, and other worldly things), repent, turn back to Jesus, and get back into the Word of God and prayer. If you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29), and His plan for your life.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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