HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

“And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.” Judges 3:31

Shamgar did not dream, when he drove his oxen out in the morning, that before the evening he would accomplish a signal deliverance for his land. But the call came, and he obeyed at once.

Just so, may I serve my God in the common working day. I need not be a white-robed priest ministering at the altar. In the street, in the shop, in the field, in the home — I can show the shining light of holiness. I can speak warning or comfort to those beside me. I can help the Lord against the mighty.

And I may serve my God with very unlikely instruments. In Bunyan’s ‘Palace Beautiful’, which stands close beside the King’s highway, they kept “the oxgoad with which Shamgar slew six hundred men.” They encouraged desponding pilgrims with the sight of the trophy.

Just so, if I am lying in the hand of Jesus — I who have no genius, no brilliance, no gifts of speech — there is no predicting what He will achieve by me. He chooses foolish things to confound the wise.

I cannot serve my God too vigorously and enthusiastically. Shamgar’s blood leapt in him with indignation, and he struck for Israel’s honour and for Jehovah’s glory. I sometimes think that, unless a man has been duly trained and conforms to recognized custom, he has no right to fight the battle. But Christ yearns for a soul which will forget its decorum, in its whole-hearted devotion to Him. Let that soul be mine. I would be a Shamgar for God!