So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. (Judges 7:5-8)
When my run is hot and sweaty, I go into the St. Clare’s Hospital entryway. There’s an ice-cold fountain and a restroom. I’ll drink at the fountain and splash my face in the restroom. On a recent sweltering day, however, there was a sign on the fountain: Sorry, Out of Service. So, I went into the restroom and decided to drink at the sink. Unfortunately, it had an auto shutoff, so I could only get a tiny swallow at a time.
But then an incident from the Bible came to mind. So, I cupped my hands under the water, made them into a little basin, and slurped.
Yes, the details of the incident I remembered are in Judges 7. This is how Gideon narrowed down the number of his fighting men. The purpose of him having a small fighting force was to let him know that the real power comes from God. So, only the limited number of guys who lapped went into battle against a much larger foe.
My slurping leads to a good reminder for any day. Sure, we do go out and put forth our best effort. But we should not forget that the real power to run well … or to do anything in life…. comes from God.
Kenny B's World 