October 14: Judges 10:6-10
 
Key Verse: Judges 10:10
Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, ‘We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.’
 
Devotion:
Sometimes when I read through the books of the Old Testament, I wonder how the people could ever go against God... then I remember the big gap in my life when I walked away from God and see just how easy it is to turn away from God. But how much do we have to go through before we turn back to God and ask Him to forgive us once again?
 
For the Israelites during this time when Jephthah was trying to lead them, they turned their backs on God and instead turned to all the other gods they could think of just to try and make life easier and more enjoyable. That is the key. We look at our lives and the lives of people around us and we think they have it better in some way, not knowing the pitfalls of their lives and the troubles they live with; we don’t know until it is too late and we are falling in those same pits and living the same troubles.
 
The Israelites were trapped in this life for 18 years! That’s about the same length of time I left God behind! But when you realise what you have done and how far you have gone, how do you make amends? How do you face God and try to apologise for all those years of running away?
 
That is the beauty of God’s grace and faithfulness. He is always waiting and faithful to forgive you when you come to Him. I know how hard it felt at the time when I knew I had to come back to God; but the act of coming back turned out to be the easiest step in my life!
 
God loves you more that you know and wants you by His side – no matter where you have been, what you have got up to and how far you wandered off. Come back!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like you have wandered too far off?
 
Do you know you have not gone as far as God can reach?