Background Story: In the previous devotion, we met Gideon threshing wheat in the winepress to hide the food from his enemies. But God was calling Gideon out of the winepress to be a warrior and judge for Israel calling the people back to Him.

Read Judges 6:25-32

That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. ²⁶ Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”

²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

²⁸ In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

²⁹ They asked each other, “Who did this?”

When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

³⁰ The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

³¹ But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” ³² So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, “Let Baal contend with him.”

Big Idea: God is calling us to purity.

Have you ever seen the Sesame Street clip called, One of the Things? In that simple childhood song, a group of items are presented and the singer says, “one of these doesn’t belong.” As simple and silly as that song is, it reminds me of a very serious and important biblical principle. There are some things that do not belong in the life of a follower of Christ.

In the previous devotion, we saw Gideon pulled from the winepress to be a warrior for God. But before he can move forward into the purposes and plans God has for his life, there are things that don’t belong. When the Israelites were led by God into the promise land, they encountered people who worshipped the false god, Baal at altars and Asherah poles. God had instructed them when they came into the land to irrevocably destroy all of these other gods but in Judges 2:10-12 we read, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. ” Instead of being God’s chosen people devoted to Him, they patterned their lives after the people in the land they were meant to conquer. So when Gideon is appointed as the new judge by God, before he can move forward into his calling, he must “tear down” and “cut down” the gods his family and the people worship.

In today’s culture, sexual sin is everywhere and is a god worshipped on social media, in popular culture, and on our campuses. Well known pastors’ ministries have fallen because of it and leaders in politics and sports have been taken down by it. If we are going to worship the God of Heaven and be used by Him for great purposes, this is a thing that does not belong. If sexual sin is an area of struggle in your life, like Gideon, extreme destruction might be necessary to walk in purity. Purity might mean removing social media and the internet from your phone to avoid pornography and online activity, breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, or walking away from a friend group. This is a hard subject because it involves things done often in secret. God LOVES you and is not here to shame you but to call you higher into the better things found in Him. Check out some of these extra verses and seek help and accountability from a trusted Christian leader. In God is victory!

Bible Passages For Additional Study: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 2 Timothy 2:22, Colossians 3:1-17, Philippians 4:6-9, Psalm 119:9-16, Romans 13:11-14, Luke 11:34-36, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 4:6-10, 1 John 4:4, 2 Timothy 1:6-9, Philippians 4:12-13, James 1:12-18, Hebrews 12:1-3, 1 John 1:6-10, Ephesians 5:1-17, Ephesians 6:10-18

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Similar Devotions: Cone of Shame, A King Like Theirs, My Shield, Authentic Worship, Deep Roots, My Body, Be On Watch, What’s Growing?, Remaining Faithful, Another in the Fire, The True Breaker of Chains