When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’” (NIV)

Two commands in this short section have caught my attention:

  • ”Get up!” (15): When you are clear that God really has told you to do something, there comes the time to get on with it. No more dawdling or hesitation. ‘Up and at ’em!’ I believe it was Warren Wiersbe who said that ‘obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge’ (or words to that effect). Are you holding back when you know the Lord has told you to go forward? Is this the day for you to ‘get up’?
  • ”Watch me” (17): The power of example in the life of a spiritual leader cannot be overstated. Paul could say: ”Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Cor.11:1) Richard Baxter, in ‘the Reformed Pastor’, writes: ‘…take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine…lest you unsay with your lives, what you say with your tongues…We must study as hard how to live well, as how to preach well.’ John Owen said, ‘If the word do not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us.’ William Perkins commented, ‘Good words are vain where there is no good life.’ These wonderful Puritan pastors have much to teach us still.

Thought: ‘ Train up a child in the way he should go – but be sure you go that way yourself.’ Charles Spurgeon