Judges 5:1-2 – What Are You Offering?

(1) Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
(2) Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

In chapter five, Deborah and Barak praise God for His delivering Israel in chapter four. Notice, the first thing they did was praise to praise God for His deliverance! It is always important to remember that it is God who gives us victory in anything that we do, and it is God who deserves the praise, not us. Also, notice why they were praising God: “for the avenging of Israel”. There was work that needed to be done! Israel was up against a large army in a discouraging situation (even Barak didn’t want to go to battle without Deborah with him)! Think about your life. Is there work that needs to be done? IS there something you know you need to improve in your life? Is there an opportunity that you can seize to love like Jesus did? Maybe it’s people in your school, your family, your friends, or people in church that need someone to show them Christ. There’s all kind of work that needs doing, but what is our responsibility?

We ought to do what these people did! They “willingly offered themselves.” These people, 10,000 of them, gave of themselves for the cause. And God delivered them! Don’t wait around for someone else to do something that you can do. Offer yourself to God as His servant and act obediently. It’s all about yielding to God. Notice, it doesn’t say that the people got together and showed Sisera who’s boss (although they did), but it says that they “willingly offered themselves.” What are you offering? there’s plenty of work to do, but are you simply giving what you have (time, money, help), or are you offering yourself? Are you available for God to use you? And, if you are, are you doing it willingly?

Life Step: Think about it…

What in your life is an opportunity that you can use to glorify God? Pray and ask God to show you what He can use YOU to do.

Most importantly, offer yourself to whatever God has for you to do. No matter how small, or how impossible, it may seem. Don’t hold anything back from Him, but give yourself wholly to Him.