The Lap of Victory

UV 629/10,000 The Lap of Victory So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “ Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Judges 7 v 5 The Lord choses His army from those who lap His Word like a dog. The whole Word is like a river of living water and the portion that applies to us every day is like the water that is cupped in the hands and from which we lap up that portion. The cup of our hands will become in time the cup of joy of our lives. The word “ lap” in this context means to learn enthusiastically and apply wholeheartedly the commands of God as well as to learn joyfully and and appropriate expectantly the promises of God. We learn and apply the commands of God in order to prove we are obedient servants and soldiers of God. We learn and appropriate the promises of God in order to garner strength to serve and to fight in God’s army. Obeying the commands of God gives us blessings of being chosen or anointed. Claiming the promises of God births victory. The Lord has given me this uni-verse saying, “ You are like a dog that laps the milk.” The Word of God is not just living water but pure spiritual milk that strengthens us ahead of the fight and challenges that lie before us every day. Like a dog relishes and laps up every drop of milk, we need to relish every word of the Word. Just as Gideon took the men down to the water, we should lead people to the Word. How we respond to the Word of God will determine whether we are chosen of God, by God and for God. Many are called and few are chosen. Gideon weeded out twenty two thousand men by giving those who listened to their fears the option to leave. God does not operate like us in the flesh and rely on more numbers. He wants to accomplish more with less. He does not want us to blow our own trumpet that we have accomplished something on account of our own strength and wisdom. He does not want us to kneel before anything or anyone else to fulfill our need. This uni-verse reveals the secret of how God chooses His fighters. He asked Gideon to separate the 300 men who lapped the water from the cup of their hands from the rest of the ten thousand left after the first round of selection. The rest drank the water routinely and without much zeal or enthusiasm. Godly leaders need to separate their teams on the basis of the discernment of their zeal for receiving and obeying the Word of God. God promised Gideon that He would deliver the Midianites into his hands and save Israel. He encouraged Gideon with a prophetic dream and its interpretation. Emboldened by the dream and its interpretation, Gideon first worshipped God and then made a strategy for “ attack”. Gideon divided the three hundred men into three companies. They were armed only with an earthen jar, a torch and a trumpet. The three companies surrounded the Midianites camp. When the jars were broken, the flares burning all round in the dead of night and the 300 Israelites gave a shout of victory, the Midianites were taken by surprise. They panicked and started attacking and killing each other. Similarly, we are each like a burning torch inside the earthen jars of our bodies. When we declare the Word of God, we are blowing His trumpet. Spiritual warfare is unarmed combat. Victory is assured. He that is with us is greater than they that are with them. The round loaf of bread that strikes the enemy’s camp throwing it into disarray is the Word of God. Prateep V Philip