It's how you finish

Gideon made a sacred ephod . . . . soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family. -Judges 8:27 (NLT)

The battles were all over, all of the enemies were dead & once again it was peaceful and safe in Israel. Sounds great, right? It could have been, but unfortunately for Gideon, the glow of past victories blinded him to this simple fact: A great past doesn’t guarantee a glorious future.
Gideon did something in Judges Chapter 8 that would have seemed unthinkable back in Judges Chapter 6. When the fighting was all over, he made an ephod, which was an object of worship in those days.

Keep in mind that the first thing God told Gideon to do was to tear down his own father’s pagan altar of worship.

So we see Gideon repeating his father’s sins, and sadly, all the people of Israel followed him.

Even more sad, this is the note Gideon’s life ends on, leaving him with a tarnished legacy complete with a spiritual asterisk next to his name.
What did Gideon do that took him so far off course? It’s not what he did. It’s what he didn’t do. He didn’t keep up on his relationship with the Lord. He let the spiritual things in his life go. He let them slip. And he let them drift. This is exactly what we are warned against in Hebrews:
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1 NLT)
Simply put, the danger of drifting away from God’s truth is real. We see it in Gideon’s life, and it’s a sober reminder that it’s how you finish that really matters, not how you start.
Discuss, Dig, Decide:
Discuss and share with your friends the tragedy of failing to finish strong. Who do you think of when you think of someone who finished strong? Who comes to mind as someone who didn’t finish well? What happened ? Dig into Judges 8:22-35.

What change do you see in Gideon’s heart? How did his choices affect the future of Israel? What legacy did Gideon leave? How does this story inspire you?