Shamgar

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 

"If your spiritual service to God is truly voluntary and courageous, then you are imitating the examples of Shamgar.

1. No one is exempt from serving God:  Consider Shamgar.
Hebattled the Philistines with an ox goad. It is very likely that he was just a poor farmer (i.e., a peasant).

2. Serve God even if you are a “nobody”:  Rather than looking to ourselves and asking to be excused we need to look to God and get to work. This excuse “But I’m just a nobody…” could have been used by Shamgar, but he determined to serve God in his generation.

3. Serve God with what you have:  Shamgar’s war instrument was an ox goad. This was a farming tool! Generally, it was about eight feet long with a sharp metal spike at one end to prod animals to work. Shamgar used this humble agricultural implement in battle against Philistia. Let us allow the lesson of his ox-goad to “prod” us to acknowledge the fact that there is room in God’s kingdom for the “small things” that we can do. 

Moses’ rod (Exodus 4:1-5) was a simple shepherd’s tool, but what great things God accomplished through it!'

CRAIG MEYER/WM