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“Take Refuge in My Shade”
“And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade …’” Judges 9:15. We must be careful of the alliances we make. We must not be unequally yoked in this life. We cannot compromise with the world. For if we do … terrible consequences will follow. Abimelech was bad news from the start. The jealous and ambitious son of Gideon’s concubine, he got into the hearts of the people that were already corrupted by the worship of Baal to be their leader. After they’d justified this bad idea by saying, “He is our brother,” he killed all seventy of his half-brothers from his father’s wives. He was, after all, a bramble with long thorns—probably like the crown the soldiers wove for Christ. What did they expect when they took refuge in his shade? And what do Christians expect when they identify more with the values of the world than they do the church? And their lives resemble celebrities more than Christ? When they can name every player on the field or every song in the countdown but aren’t having private study or family devotional time? The brambles are plentiful—and sharp. Whose shade are you taking refuge in?
