One of the peculiar phrases I sometimes hear around church involves laying out a fleece. It refers to Gideon’s request for a sign from the Lord before leading his untested army into battle against a powerful enemy.

Gideon laid out his fleece twice. Once, asking for a wet fleece surrounded by dry ground, and then the opposite. Both times the Lord complied. This exercise followed a visit from an angel, and so Gideon received a total of three miraculous signs before stepping into the fray.

Makes me think of Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty, arguing with God, asking over and over for a sign while signs appear all around him.

Gideon faced an immense challenge and hoped for clarity to lead. Those who followed Moses watched God work signs and wonders before their eyes, and yet over and over refused to believe the Lord. Clearly, the presence of a sign doesn’t automatically generate obedience.

Most everyone who cracks open a Bible hopes to discern God’s will at some point in their life (here’s a thoughtful series in the topic), but confirmation remains elusive. It’s hard to know we’re going the right direction without a bright, unambiguous sign.

In my experience, such signs rarely appear. Often the test with our fleece fails to satisfy. Remember, it took three miraculous experiences to convince Gideon. We step forward in faith, with glimmers of direction.

One hopeful thought. Just like the Lord sent an angel to Gideon, the Lord sent his Word to us. The first and best place to look for direction from the God? Open that Bible at your elbow and dig in. You might just find that sign you’re looking for.

Judges 6 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Austin Chan

When was the last time you felt the stick of a goad? Or to put in another way, who last goaded you into something?

I visited my gastroenterologist recently. I steeled myself for bad news—when am I due for my next colonoscopy? She referenced her charts and then withdrew the goad. Four more years (with foot-dragging I’ll stretch that to six). Good health often requires some goading.

Shamgar, the third judge of Israel, struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad, thus delivering the nation. An oxgoad is a long stick, either sharpened on one end, or fit with an iron spike and/or hook. It’s used to prod oxen in the direction the driver prefers. Today people use an electric cattle prod for the same purposes.

No one likes feeling the goad, particularly those Philistines. Paul referred to kicking against the goads when describing his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. It’s painful and harmful to kick against a sharpened, barbed spear.

Which doesn’t stop me from bucking the goad. Like a big dumb ox, I often need a little pain to move me in the right direction. I may not like it, but part of me understands, and remains grateful, for the Lord’s goads in my life.

Judges 3 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

In his last great speech, Joshua laid a choice before each individual in the nation of Israel—choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Either the gods of Egypt, the gods of their new land, or the Lord who led them to where they stood. The people responded enthusiastically for the Lord and placed a large stone as a witness of their commitment.

Joshua committed to serving the Lord regardless of what came next. He committed to a dogged faith, committed to clinging to the Lord despite tragedy and hard times. His promise also extended to times of prosperity and peace, when it’s easy to forget the Lord and turn to self-congratulation.

Joshua’s line in the sand served his family and his generation well. They stayed close to the Lord and followed his ways. The following generation not so much. They eased into the faith on their fathers and mothers, missed the firm personal commitment to serve the Lord and stumbled badly.

Our faith stands only one generation deep. We each decide for ourselves if we will serve the Lord with all the grit and determination required, or allow ourselves and our families to drift into chaotic streams of our world’s desires and priorities.

Will I serve the Lord and follow his Word, or will I give in to the latest prevailing notions of the culture we swim in?

Will I serve the Lord or will I serve the gods all around me?

Will I serve the Lord or will I compromise?

Joshua’s challenge rings in my ears today—choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. My answer? As best I can, I will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jon Tyson

Years ago when I worked with students at Missouri State University, a pair of creative guys made a video illustrating Jesus’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus told the parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.

They filmed their interpretation of the Pharisee’s prayer in the middle of a busy sidewalk on campus. With students steaming in all directions, one of the guys stood on a platform, raised his hands in a “look at how great I am” pose and appealed to heaven. I thought he was hilarious, but only a few stopped to watch—a guy acting weird and another guy filming it raises few eyebrows on campus.

For the tax collector, they filmed in a quiet, out-of-the-way place. The amateur video (shot with a camcorder) turned out better than expected, and I still remember it as I consider the parable. They caught the essence of the teaching.

The humble man, the tax collector, went home justified before God. Not the prideful Pharisee, despite his strict adherence to all the religious rules. Jesus emphasized this point to his audience: For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

I relate to the Pharisee more than the tax collector, so these words prick at my ego. But you and I also live in an unprecedented era of self-promotion launched and sustained by the endless assault of social media. Everyone tweets confident of their own righteousness, or takes to social media in the same mindset.

Jesus pushes us to stop looking at our screens and start looking at our hearts. How rarely I beat my breast with downcast eyes and cry, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. But this is the path to humility, and only those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Luke 18 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Timon Studler