Bible Study: 1
Samuel 24, 3 to 21. And Mark 3, 13 to 19.
With three thousand men, Saul went in search of David. When Saul
was faced with Goliath, he did not go with three thousand men but for just one
man who was supposed to a friend, Saul went with three thousand men. Saul
reasoned that with three thousand men, he was completely out to destroy David and
thereby secure his kingdom. Unknown to Saul, David had God fully on his side
and just as God protected him from Goliath, God was going to protect him from
three thousand soldiers.
The story of Saul and David begs the question why we humans tend
to trust more in human protection than in God’s protection. Why do we trust our
fellow humans more than God? Or to put it in another way: Why do we fear humans
more than God? Why do we seek human protection instead of God’s protection?
When we are at right with God, he arranges events and
circumstances in our favour. We may not have three thousand men, we may not
have the full protection of the strongest army in the world, but with God we
are totally secure. We may not have enough money to move around town with a
convoy and siren but if we have God on our side, all the money in the world is useless
for us.
The greatest protection we can ever have against the devil and
any form of attack at all be it physical or spiritual is HOLINESS OF LIFE. As
simple as this sounds, it is a secret that many are yet to discover. David
enjoyed God’s protection because he would dare not commit any evil. Even when
he had an opportunity to kill Saul in his sleep, David refused. “How can I
raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed?” Even though this so-called-anointed
came there to kill him, David would not pay back evil for evil.
David did not consider himself as the one to kill Saul. His
action showed that he believed God alone fights for his beloved. That is the
same disposition we should have knowing that we are God’s anointed children. We
shouldn’t go after our enemies ourselves or begin to pray violent prayers
against them. It doesn’t work! Instead, we should continue in the path of
holiness and God who sees our hearts and knows how much we trust him would
fight for us.
Note that David continued to enjoy this protection and
everything was going on well for him until he too sinned by taking the wife of
another man. That was the beginning of crisis for him and his family. The best
protection we can ever get is not the protection with iron bars, bullet proof doors
and gates, but a protection of our hearts and minds from sin!
We must trust God enough to believe that as long as we are
walking in the light, he would protect us even if we do not have any physical
protection. We must trust that as long as we are keeping commandments, we are
covered even if we have three thousand men pursuing us.
Jesus called his twelve apostles to him in today’s Gospel
passage. They were first and foremost to be with him and then to be sent out to
preach and have authority to cast out demons. Too often, we place too much
emphasis on the aspect of the apostles having authority to cast out demons
forgetting that before the exercise of authority comes the aspect of BEING WITH
THE LORD. In our age and time, we find ministers saddled with so much secular
work that they hardly have time to just be with the Lord.
We must trust that whatever time we spend in the presence of God
is not wasted time because precisely the time we receive authority for our
protection.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in you and may my trust become
visible by my life of holiness. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment