The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 3 March 2020 – TOPIC: TAKING UP THE CHALLENGE

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DATE: TUESDAY, MARCH 03, 2020
TOPIC: TAKING UP THE CHALLENGE
READ: JUDGES 1:11-26 (NKJV)

11. From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir [was] formerly Kirjath Sepher.)
12. Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”
13. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.
14. Now it happened, when she came [to him,] that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from [her] donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”
15. So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16. Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which [lies] in the South [near] Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
17. And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
18. Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
19. So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.
20. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.
21. But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22. And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD [was] with them.
23. So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city [was] formerly Luz.)
24. And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.”
25. So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
26. And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which [is] its name to this day.

THE MESSAGE:

Caleb threw a challenge that goes with a reward to whoever that would attack KirjathSepher and take it. The person would take his daughter Achsah as wife. Of all the young men around, it was only Othniel, his younger brother that accepted the challenge.

Many other young men around may have shied away because of the task involved. They may have desired Caleb’s daughter as wife but could have been afraid to face the task at hand. The English have a saying that you cannot make an omelette without breaking an egg.

Life is full of challenges. We either face them headlong or shy away from them. Someone must carry out the task. If we run away, nothing will be done or achieved in life, especially for Christ. Many places are unreached for Christ; God is still asking; “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6:8). Many people are in the mission field struggling to reach souls for Christ but the statement of the Lord that the harvest is plenty but the labourers are few still stare us all in the face (Luke 10:2). Who will take up the challenge today and enlist in the army of Christ. May we all align with Paul that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

PRAYER: My Lord, may You move me to take up the challenge of conquering territories for You through reaching souls