Whatever It Takes

Ask me if I believe in God and I'll say
Yes, with all of my heart
And I'll tell you I do
With the last breath I take
That He is the One I belong to
Ask me to give up my life and I will
Whatever it takes to obey
For I know that as Jesus was brought back to life
I will also as roses in springtime


Whatever it takes
I will be one
Who lives in the fresh newness of life
Of those who are alive from the dead
Whatever the cost
Whatever it takes
I will be one
Whatever it takes


Ask me if I would die for my faith
With His strength I pray that I would
Jesus said if a man would give up his life
He would surely gain it back again
He said, "Whoever serves Me must follow Me,
Where I AM My servant will be,
And My Father will honor the one who serves Me;
Who lays down his life for My sake."


Now I have given up on everything else
For I know it to be the only way
To really know Christ and experience His might
That brought Him back to life again
And find out what it really means to suffer and die with Him...so...


Whatever it takes
I will be one 
Who lives in the fresh newness of life
Of those who are alive from the dead
Whatever the cost
Whatever it takes
I will be one
Whatever it takes


("Whatever It Takes/Cassie's Song," by The Kry)


"If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison--your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even your own life.  Otherwise you cannot be My disciple.  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.  But don't begin until you count the cost."


-Luke 14:26-28a, NLT






Last Wednesday, I got a phone call from the high school minister at my home church, asking if I would like to teach Sunday school for the next three weeks, to help him out.  I agreed happily... and realized shortly thereafter that I had no idea what I should teach!  So many ideas were bouncing around in my head; it was tricky to narrow it down to just one.  I had finally settled on something from Ephesians; a study I had done recently and found very interesting and edifying.  I had it all planned out and organized... and then God did His thing.

I spent Thursday and Friday with a couple of friends from college down in Sanford, North Carolina.  It was probably about four or five o'clock in the morning on Friday; the conversation had lulled, and I had been dozing on and off, when a Bible story went off in my head like a flashbulb and brought me wide awake.  I sat up, turned to my friend, and asked, "Have I ever told you about Jephthah?"  He looked at me like he thought I might be a little crazy, and as though he wasn't sure I really was awake.  His answer was a cautious one:  "Um...no."  I proceeded to tell him the story, which he patiently listened to, before going back to sleep.  I woke up again around seven o'clock, restless and still with the story of Jephthah throbbing in my heart.  My restless pacing woke up another of my friends, who asked me what I was doing.  I told him that I couldn't sleep, and told him I was thinking about Jephthah.  He looked at me curiously, started to ask me to explain, then thought better of it, rolled over and went back to sleep; he had a four-hour drive to consider later in the day, so I don't blame him.

Sometime late Saturday night, while attempting to write my lesson outline for the next morning, I became frustrated with the passage from Ephesians.  It was interesting, all right, and would have made a wonderful lesson.  But something wasn't right.  The "backspace" and "delete" keys became my new best friends.  Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that I am never just working when my laptop is open; I usually have two or three Skype, AIM or Facebook Chat conversations going at the same time.  Saturday night was no exception; I had been chatting with a friend of mine for some time, when it occurred to me to ask her if she had ever heard of Jephthah.  She had, so instead of telling the story again, I began to read into it and draw a lesson from it... and wouldn't you know, I decided at around one in the morning on Sunday to forget about the Ephesians lesson and teach about Jephthah instead.  Or rather, I finally realized that God had been trying to get my attention with this story all along.  I smile.  And it is Jephthah's story that I am going to share with you in this post.  You can find the entire story in Judges 11; I am just going to summarize it here.

Jephthah was the bastard son of a man named Gilead. He had the reputation of a tough-guy; when kicked out of the house by his father's legitimate sons, a bunch of local bad-boys elected him their leader and they formed a raiding band.  Jephthah was not the kind of guy you messed around with; he could handle himself in a fight, and his buddies would back him up.  When the nation of Israel got into trouble with a neighboring nation--Ammon--they told Jephthah's brothers to suck it up and go beg Jephthah to get them out of the mess they'd gotten themselves into.  Jephthah handled their pleas with a healthy amount of contempt, not agreeing to lead the nation until he had exacted from them a promise that they would always follow his leadership, even when the war against the Ammonites was over.  Jephthah was not only tough, but smart.  The greatest thing about Jephthah, however, was not his military prowess or political shrewdness; the greatest thing about Jephthah was his passionate love for and devotion to God.  The Holy Spirit came upon him in power, and he boldly led the Israelite army out to do battle with the Ammonites.  This is where the story gets really good; I'm going to let it tell itself:

"At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites.  And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD.  He said, 'If You give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the LORD whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph.  I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.'  So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory."


-Judges 11:29-32, NLT


I have frequently heard Jephthah denounced for the impetuous nature of his vow.  He didn't think it through.  He didn't consider potential consequences.  It never occurred to him to add a clause or exception.  In a moment of passionate fervor, he was willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of victory in the name of the LORD.  I think that there is something admirable in such passion, and therefore something admirable in the vow.  It was good, sincere, and God-pleasing.  What makes Jepthah's vow a foolish one is that he did not know what he was promising.  The story continues:

"When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy.  She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish.  'Oh, my daughter!' he cried out.  'You have completely destroyed me!  You've brought disaster on me!  For I have made a vow to the LORD, and I cannot take it back!'"


-Judges 11:34-35, NLT


This part of the story always makes my breath catch and my heart skip a beat.  In these two verses, the depth of Jephthah's love can be clearly seen... and it can also be clearly seen which of his loves runs deeper.  It is as plain as day that Jephthah loves his daughter desperately; equally plain is his love for God, which far outweighs all other loves.  Though half-crazed by grief at the thought of the terrible price he must pay, even Jephthah's cry of despair shows his determination to do for the LORD what he has promised.  At his daughter's urging--what a godly young woman!--Jephthah keeps his promise and sacrifices her as a burnt offering.  Now this may seem obscene to you; it is horrifying, certainly.  But Jephthah was obedient in making the sacrifice.  And that obedience, however painful, satisfied God.

"When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word, but must do everything he said."


-Numbers 30:2, NIV


"When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it.  He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.  It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it."


-Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, NIV


When I first began to think about Jephthah's vow in earnest, I realized something... there is nothing so extraordinary about the vow itself.  How many times have you or I said something similar, either aloud or in our hearts, or even sung in our praise and worship songs?  I surrender all.  Here am I, all of me, take my life, it's all for Thee.  We're giving it all to You; we're giving it all to You; our hearts cry out; we need You now; we're giving it all to you.  In our moments of passionate fervor, we promise just as recklessly to sacrifice anything and everything for God's sake.  In truth, when each of us comes to Christ, we promise to sacrifice everything--our very selves--in exchange for the full and abundant life He offers.

No... it is not the vow that is extraordinary.  What is extraordinary is that he kept it.

How many of us actually keep the promises we make to God?  I know I certainly haven't.  Oh, He keeps up His end of things; He is faithful even when I am faithless.  But how often do I actually make a living sacrifice of myself?  On a daily basis, who has my heart?  God alone should have my heart.  But everyday I am tempted to allow other things to become more important--good things, bad things, totally stupid things and things that don't even matter.  Everyday I have to choose to give my heart to God and put him first... and everyday I fail.  I can't even make it through a day in total surrender!  But He loves me anyway... and He is pleased with my efforts.

I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas' kiss
But You love me anyway


("You Love Me Anyway," by Sidewalk Prophets)

"If only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased even with their stumbles."


-C.S. Lewis


The trouble is that when I promised to give God my all, I did not know what I was promising.  I did not know what it would require.  I did not know what it would cost.  The truth is, I could not really know what I was promising until the time came to make good on my promise; to actually give myself up; surrender; do the hard thing; make the sacrifice.  As such a time came to Jephthah, so such times have come to me.  I do not know where my loyalties lie--whom I love most--until I am required to choose between keeping my vow to God, and breaking it in order to go my own way and follow my own desires.

Though the cost was high, Jephthah made good his vow.  Will I do the same?  Will you?