Jephthah judged Israel six years. Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city, Mizpah of Gilead. (The Message)

Someone said that the true measure of a life is not its duration but its donation: not how long we live but how much we give.

My attention was drawn to the ”six years” in our text. I know that’s not a reference to his life-span. But I found myself thinking, ‘God can do so much through a person in a short period of time.’

Drawing from memory, Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones spoke about a particular preacher, who was a good and faithful man, but had quite an ordinary, unremarkable ministry. Then, just for a relatively small period of time, the Spirit of God came upon him in great power, and he saw the most remarkable results. But then, after a while, the great success came to an end (I believe he said this occurred as suddenly as it started) and he returned to his ‘normal’ ministry – which was not in any way to be disparaged. Lloyd Jones’ point, I believe, was that the Spirit of God is sovereign. He is in control, we are not. He does what He wants, through whom He wants, whenever He wants.

”The wind blows wherever it pleases.” (John 3:8)

So, the thought for today is this: God doesn’t need a lot of time to do a lot of work!