Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. Now Gideon had seventy sons who were his direct descendants, for he had many wives. His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals and made Baalberith their god. Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerrubbaal (that is Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.
– Judges 8:29-35
Devotion
The cycle of judgment in Judges continues on: Israel serves the Lord – Israel falls into sin and idolatry – Israel is enslaved – Israel cries out to the Lord – God raises up a judge – Israel is delivered.
The Big Question
We shake our head in disbelief wondering why the Israelites didn’t “get it.” But if we honestly look at our own lives are we any different that the Israelites?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned. Perhaps asking God for forgiveness for following the same cycle as the Israelites.