Cyndi (PurpleGranny)

Fun facts about Gideon this morning: You remember Gideon—the “mighty man of valor” who stood against a massive Midianite army with only 300 men and won? After the victory, the people of Israel came to him and said, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandson—because you have saved us.” They tried to make him king. Gideon refused. He told them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” Why? Because one battle doesn’t permanently secure freedom. The same people who are cheering you today will often try to elevate you tomorrow so they can sit under the umbrella of your strength while still calling the shots. They want the benefits of victory without the burden of maintaining it. They want someone else to carry the weight so they can keep living however they please. That’s not freedom. That’s entitlement. And unfortunately, it’s within our human nature. People love the idea of a strong leader who will protect them, provide for them, and take responsibility for them. What they don’t love is the idea that they themselves must become responsible. Freedom isn’t a gift someone else can hand you and then maintain for you. Even if someone delivers you from an enemy, you still have to be able to keep that freedom. Otherwise you won’t stay free. We were actually made to be free so we could keep the Law—not so we could ignore it. The original design was a people who didn’t need a human king standing over them because they already lived under the rule of God and governed themselves according to His ways. Gideon was pointing them back to that. They didn’t need a throne; they needed to become self-governing under the Lord. This is the same principle America’s founders tried to build into the system. They didn’t just reject a king; they put in place a Constitution that limits the power of government, protects individual rights, and assumes that free people will be capable of governing themselves. It was never meant to be an umbrella that lets everyone do whatever they want while someone else is responsible for the consequences. It was meant to restrain bad actors (who will always try to weaponize law against the good) while leaving room for a people who are willing to live as free, self-governing citizens under a higher standard. Gideon saw the danger of handing the crown to any man—even a hero. The founders tried to institutionalize that insight so the people would never have to depend on a single Gideon again. America, do you hear that?