Rematch

Today's passage:  II Samuel 5
     The Philistines were still not convinced that Israel's God is greater.  When David (years ago by this point) killed their most ferocious warrior, they believed it to be one battle of many battles that Israel happened to win. I don't say this simply because they come up against now King David here in this chapter.  I say this because of what I read in verse 21.  After David prays and asks God if he should go up against the Philistines, which God approves, the Israelites are once again able to pummel the Philistines.  One thing I wonder about here.  In chapter 17, we don't see David asking God if he should go up against Goliath.  These are the same Philistines, why would he ask here?  I think in that instance, it was only him.  He wasn't in charge of an army.  He knew that Goliath had challenged God's power, and David was willing to sacrifice himself to take down anyone who defied the living God.  In this case, he is now the commander-in-chief over hundreds of men.  To simply assume God will be with them is not a risk David is willing to take with other lives involved.  If it had only been him, he may have taken that chance.  After all, just like Joshua and Ai, just because David's heart was right, didn't mean that the hearts of his soldiers were right, and a slaughter because there was "sin in the camp" would have significant consequences.  David prays, God says yes, the Israelites destroy.

  "And there they left their images, and David burned them."  Why would the Philistines bring their idols with them?  My guess is that they wanted to prove to Israel that their gods were far more powerful than Jehovah God.  This was more than just a battle between two nations over territorial rights, over land disputes.  This was a battle to find out whose God was Sovereign.  And anytime that kind of battle takes place, God will always win.  David uses them to build a bonfire.  Perhaps when the remainder of the Philistines see a fire in the city, they assume their men have been successful, because a second regiment goes in against David's army
.  This time, God tells David to wait.  He tells him to send some troops in behind them and wait for the signal of the moving mulberry trees.  God says He will go out before them, and He will destroy them.  David follows God's instructions and the Philistines soon wish they had never challenged Israel's God.  Again.
     The Philistines may have thought that since so much time had passed, that since they brought their gods with them, that they would be able to conquer Israel.  But Israel's God is constant.  He is always powerful, not just when His people are faithful to Him.  His power is not dependent on our submission.  Their gods only performed for them, and they could never be sure when something they had or had not done might "change" their gods' minds.  I'm grateful for a God who is unchanging, unaltered, unwavering in His love for me.  I'm proud to serve a God I can rely on no matter how much time has passed.  And I'm certain that David recognized that about his God as well.
 

Just Around the Corner

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 15:51-58
     My son's favorite game on the Wii is Mario Karts.  I have to admit, I really enjoy it too.  The first couple times I played, I was a very bad driver.  The graphics of the game are so incredible, but because the game is only 2D, it was sometimes hard for my undiscerning eyes to separate the background from the actual course.  I drove off every bridge, crashed into every wall, fell into every body of water.  And then there are those blind curves.  You know, those curves that you can't see what is around the corner and smack into whatever ends up being around the bend.  Yeah, did that numerous times.  It would be easy to get frustrated and give up on the game.  Fortunately, I do have a bit of a competitive side, and it rises up and won't allow me to do that.  So although, I rarely ever finish in first place in these races, I don't always finish in last either.
    "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."  We often quote this verse to emphasize the importance of being faithful to a task.  But it is really important to read the verses beforehand.  There is a reason we can be steadfast, unmoving, and abounding.  It is because Christ will return.  Christ may come within the next few seconds, as I'm typing these words, and I want Him to find me hard at work, going about the Father's business.  He's coming very soon.  That is why every Bible verse I review with my kids, every prayer I offer for a loved one's salvation, every tract I give to the grocery store cashier, is urgent.  It is not in vain.  It may be the last time I get to do those things.  Christ's coming is like the blind curves.  I can't see around the corner, so I don't know when it will be, but everyday is a little closer to the time Jesus will come back for us.  It would be easy to get frustrated and give up.  I mean, really, there is a lot in the Christian life that is discouraging.  There are days, when I wonder, what's the point?  This morning I was feeling a bit like this.  I have felt like giving up this blog, on more than one occasion.  But I am not a quitter.  I'm amazed sometimes to see that someone in a different country has read something here.  I mean, that is astounding.  Now how much was read, I don't know.  How often they read I don't know.  For me, I have always benefitted from reading the Bible and then writing about what I've read.  I just get more from my devotions that way.  In the past, I have written them in a notebook, now in the electronic age, when I learned about blogging, I decided this might be the outlet for me.  I could give it up.  I could go back to spiral-bound pages.  But Christ's coming is just around the corner, and who knows if someone might happen upon these pages and find the Lord?  I'm not saying that has or ever will happen, but shouldn't we use every avenue possible to see people saved?  I think so.  It may be that someone puts a word in a search engine, and somehow this blog shows up.  So maybe someone just takes a peek.  Maybe they will peek at a page explaining how they can know Christ.  Isn't that why God leaves us here?  To be that witness?  I need to stay faithful to the things Christ has given me. Like a Mario Kart driver, I need to follow the course to the best of my capabilities, even though I may drive into a wall, fall off a bridge, submerge my vehicle in the CG lake.  Satan will put many pitfalls in our path.  We must do our best to avoid them, because Christ's coming may be just over the hill, and if I stop my work a little early, I may neglect to point someone to Him.  If today is my last day on this earth, this minute, this hour, what words can I leave behind to direct others to Him?  That is my whole life's purpose, and I want to be faithful to it until the trumpet sounds.

The Gold Medal Standard

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 9:19-27
      The Olympics.  How I love to watch the Olympics.  My husband dreads them because I will watch every event possible.  Seriously.  I think the first time I watched them was the summer they were in Los Angeles.  I remember wanting to stay up every night to see women's volleyball, swimming, and of course gymnastics.  I loved hearing the life stories of these athletes who had given up so much to train for their event, to train to represent our country, to train to win that gold medal.  I love that they stagger the Winter and Summer Olympics so that one is viewable every two years.  Now I only have to wait half as long to see an Olympics. 
     Last year, my son watched speed skating with me and we both rooted for Apollo Anton Ohno.  He decided he wanted to take up speed skating and go to the Olympics to win a gold medal.  I explained to him that it takes years of training.  You don't just show up at the Olympics and participate.  You have to become the best at your sport, which means school in a different way, not a lot of play time, hours and hours of drills and skating.  I was not trying to discourage him, but I knew he had no idea what it would take to achieve that level of competition.  After listening to the amount of dedication it would take to get to the Olympics, he decided maybe he would just watch it on TV.
     I am astounded at the discipline these athletes exercise to vie for that gold medal, once, maybe twice in their lifetimes.  It means pushing your body to unbelievable limits.  It means dying to self in many facets of life.  It means pushing through injuries and adversities.  We glorify the athlete (I think disproportionately) because we know the effort it takes to subject our bodies to those physical demands.  We know the difficulty of exercising such will power when chocolate cake is calling out to us, and think, well maybe just this once, when a trained athlete will say, not even this once.  We know when we want to skip a workout because we have had a draining week, and the competitor says, I will workout twice today.  There must be a drive in them that compels them to keep going.  And we've seen it.  Who can forget Keri Strug's memorable vault which secured a gymnastics team gold medal?  After spraining her ankle to record a lukewarm score, she vaulted into the hearts of America by braving a second attempt.  Furthermore, she sacrificed her chances at the All-Arounds with this endeavor.  She took one for the team.  Had she not pushed her ankle, giving it a chance to mend before the Individual events, she might have had opportunity to take more than one medal home.

Courtesy of--http://breadsite.org

     How much am I willing to sacrifice to give out the gospel?  Missionaries do it.  They represent us in all parts of the world, giving up the daily comforts we take for granted.  They eat foods we would not even taste, let alone eat.  They learn difficult languages that require years of study.  In some places, they travel dusty terrain to reach the outlying villages.  They encounter incurable disease, unsanitary conditions, untamed wildlife, government regime changes, inflation that alters their financial support.  These seem like big things, but they also deal with daily nuisances.  Insects, electricity blackouts, water shortages, rodents, corrupt officials, homesickness and a host of other things.  Paul gives quite a lengthy list in II Corinthians 11 about just a few of the things that had happened to him as a missionary.  He wasn't complaining, he was just explaining that the missionary life is not always easy.  He was willing to go through all that because he knew that people who die without Christ will go through a lot more. 
     Athletes punish their bodies to achieve a gold medal.  Sure, it looks great on the mantelpiece, the gold reflecting in the homefires.  Yes, it brings international fame and recognition at every breakfast table chowing down on Wheaties.  Surely, there is satisfaction knowing that those years of intense training had been rewarded.
     Missionaries leave previous (sometimes lucrative) occupations to go to an unfamiliar culture.  They raise their children far away from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who deem them strangers when they return for furloughs.  They make difficult decisions about how those children will be schooled, abroad or at home.  They will not bring home a gold medal at the end of their tenure, but they will have something far more precious at the end of this life.
     Is it a lot to ask for me to give a little time to pray for them?  And not just a "Please bless the missionaries" but praying specifically for each family, for each field, for each need.  Is it too much to give a little of my money to support missionaries?  Maybe to even give a little more for special missionary projects?  I'll admit it.  I am embarrassed when I don't know who our missionaries are.  I may not always recognize each face, because I don't have a missionary card for each of them, but I should at least recognize each name.  Just yesterday, I was reading some of the missionary letters on the church bulletin board (something I should do far more often) and saw a name I did not recognize.  Have I prayed for that family before?  I didn't see it on our regular prayer sheet, so I'm not sure what the situation is, but now that I know it, I will do my best to pray for them regularly.
     If athletes and missionaries can discipline themselves to give their all, can't I discipline myself to give just a little?  In the Olympics, they are competing for a temporary reward, and I never see a one of them giving up even though the first three cross the finish line.  Every competitor finishes that race, even it means pushing a broken luge across by foot.  They do not want to let their country down.  They want to finish their race with pride.  Shouldn't I want to do the same for my God?  I know I will never be Olympics material, but shouldn't I be a gold medalist on God's team?  It might take a little work, and a little dedication, but a gold crown will last longer than a gold medal.

Competitors

Today's passage:  I Samuel 25:1-17
     "They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep."
     In the teaching profession, there is a lot of mentoring and encouragement.  We borrow teaching tips from each other, we give advice, we ask for advice, we pool ideas.  All this makes for an enjoyable work environment.  I don't think I could ever work on Wall Street, where it is every man for himself.   I don't think I could steal clients from another person, or recommend myself over a colleague.  Highly competitive people probably enjoy that work environment, but it would not be for me.  Maybe not all stock brokers try to edge out rivals, and maybe not all teachers cooperate with one another, but generally, you can see the difference in the two atmospheres.
     David used to be a shepherd.  In fact, he used to shepherd in Bethlehem which is not a great deal's distance from Maon, where this passage takes place.  In between the two cities is a great wilderness.  So shepherds would either take their sheep into this wilderness to graze, or they would take them west to pasture.  In any case, I am guessing that some of the shepherds from these towns would have met up at one point or another.  David may have been familiar with Nabal from his shepherding days.  He obviously knew he was a wealthy man, or he would not have imposed on him to feed over 400 mouths.  David and his men have wandered the countryside, I guess depending on others for food, but that is not always easy when you have such a large group of men.  Perhaps they hunted and fished.  They could have on many occasions slaughtered sheep that they happened across in their travels.  The sheep would have provided mutton and wool.  This would most likely be a last resort.  Having been a shepherd, David understood the importance of every sheep in the flock.  He would have sympathized with families that raised them as their living, and would prefer to leave them to those families.  Apparently, David and his men had crossed paths with Nabal's shepherds.  They even offered them protection, in exchange for nothing.  David understood the perils of watching the sheep by night.  He was willing to offer a helping hand.
      Now the time comes when David could use a helping hand.  He is hungry.  He knows Nabal has the means to feed them.  He has helped Nabal in the past so he asks for a favor.  I don't think David helped Nabal's men in order to get something for the future, but since he is in need, he figures that maybe Nabal will return the kindness.  Here is Nabal's response, "And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse?  there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master."
I'm not buying that Nabal has no idea who David is.  In fact, I'm guessing that Nabal is one of those competitive Wall Street types who wants to monopolize the sheep farming business.  He probably knew every shepherd in the area, every sheep owner around and made it his business to keep track of who had what.  He had to have heard about David's reputation, not only as a shepherd, but as a servant to king Saul.  Hadn't everyone heard about the giant slayer?  There is some reason that Nabal refuses to help David.  I think he would like to see the downfall of David and the downfall of his family.  I think he would like to be the only sheep owner standing in southern Judah.  Does he even listen to the fact that David and his men had spared his shepherds and his sheep on numerous occasions?  That they in fact, had offered protection?  Nabal refuses to hear it.  He has his mind set.  Perhaps he thinks that with Jesse's old age and his best shepherd a fugitive, Jesse will have to sell the family business.  And guess who might march up the walk willing to take it off his hands?  Of course, I can't know any of this for sure, but it seems reasonable to think that this may have been Nabal's motivation.  He obviously had no fear of David.  He does not think about what David could possibly do to him or his business.  Fortunately, Nabal has a wise wife.  This must have been an arranged marriage, because I don't see how foolish Nabal could have ended up with wise Abigail.  I know opposites attract, but not that opposite. 
     Competition is healthy, to an extent.  I believe in a free market where competition helps business to improve.  I enjoy watching competitive sports, where somebody wins and somebody loses.  I love competitive board games where hopefully I win ( I do have a bit of a competitive streak in me).  Sometimes competition becomes cut-throat, and then it gets ugly.  When we only concentrate on winning, when we only see the bottom line, competition loses purpose.  Competition should motivate us to improve ourselves, it shouldn't leave us trampled in the dust. That is why we have sportsmanship awards, so in the midst of competition, we can still show some civility. Nabal could only see the bottom line.  He was willing to mow over anybody to achieve what he wanted.  In the heat of the race, I should be focused on the finish line, but I mustn't forget those on the sidelines who helped me get there.  A Wall Street tycoon more than likely profited from other brokers who fizzled out.  Teachers of the year had to get those ideas from somewhere or somebody.  Competition is working hard to win, but usually we benefit from those who lose.  Nobody wins or profits without some help.  Do I lend a helping hand when I am at the top of the world?  Or do I squash the competitors?  If that is my attitude, I shouldn't be surprised when someone has to help me off the ground someday.

Bandwagon Fans

Today's passage:  John 12:12-50
     I am a converted Cubs fan.  Actually I am a converted baseball fan.  I never really watched major league baseball before I was married, because it moved too slowly, but I have always been a sports fan in general.  Watching games with my husband in our early years of marriage, convinced me that either I better start enjoying this sport or I would be in for some long nights of boredom.  It wasn't hard to start liking it, especially in the years they were doing great, like 1998, which happened to be our first year of marriage.  The following seasons were a little slower until 2003.  Any baseball fan knows what happened to the Cubs in 2003.  In Game 6, at Wrigley Field, five outs from going to the World Series (they had not been since 1945), an incident with a foul ball flustered the Cubs and cost them the game.  They squandered their opportunity in Game 7 and Cubs fans around the world were heartbroken.  Since 2003, the Cubs made back-to-back appearances in the first round play-offs only to be eliminated after the first three games both times.  This year is the first season I have not watched a single game.  I just became so disillusioned with management decisions, with favorite players being traded, with getting so close and never getting there, that I had to stop watching.  Maybe next year is the Cubs fan motto.  Well, maybe next year I can start watching them again, I just couldn't stomach it this season.  Some might think that I am a bandwagon fan, because I am not watching them while they are losing (and I assure you, they are not having a great season).  I take exception to this.  In thirteen years I have watched plenty of losing seasons.  Would I watch them this year if they were winning? More than likely.  But even genuine fans can get fed up.
     What on earth does all this have to do with the passage in John?  This is the passage of the Triumphal Entry.  It is Passover week.  This means that Jerusalem will be packed with people.  Jews from all over the country (and maybe some other countries) will travel to Jerusalem to worship for the Passover feast.  The marketplace will be brimming with produce to attract customers.  Innkeepers will prepare every vacant room for the influx of guests.  The Temple will be filled to capacity.  Then Jesus comes riding into the busy city on the back of a donkey.  The people see this, many of them followers of Christ, and create a path of palm tree branches and colored coats. 

Jesus Riding in on a Donkey--Taken from Standard Bible Readers, Book Six
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1929

What a sight to see!  If I had been in the market, and heard this commotion, I more than likely would have put down my bag of pistachios to see what was taking place.  If I had been offering up prayers in the Temple, and saw a throng of people gathered at the Jerusalem gate, I may have abandoned my prayer shawl to hear what was happening.  Jesus did have genuine believers in that crowd, but He also had a lot of bandwagon fans who were completely happy with Him when He was performing miracles and challenging the Roman government.  When He said things like He said in verse 32, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." they were not so happy.  They didn't want to think about what He really came to do, because it made no sense to them.  It would be like telling a Cubs fan that her team plays baseball but not for the purpose of going to the World Series.  Verse 34 tells me exactly what the Jews' mindset was, "The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up?  who is this Son of man?"  Now I have a question.  They said they had heard this out of the law.  Usually the law is referring to the first five books of Moses.  Had they read past that?  Did they read the whole Book?  Plenty of places in the prophetic books told them of the death of the Messiah.  Why were they ignoring those parts?  Don't I do this sometimes?  Don't I want to cling to certain passages, and forget about others? 
     I have referred to Philip and Andrew before in one of my other posts, but I need to refer to them again.  After Christ has made his entry, there are some Greeks who want to talk with Jesus.  I'm guessing they are Greek Jews because it says "them that came up to worship at the feast."  To whom do they make their request to address Jesus?  Philip.  He then asks Andrew, and together they tell Jesus about the Greeks desire.  It seems to me, even though Philip and Andrew had different outlooks on life (see my post, Anticipating Andrew, Pessimistic Philip) they were the most approachable of all the disciples.  People felt they could talk to them.  Isn't that the first step in bringing someone closer to Christ?  If a person doesn't feel like she can talk to me, how will I ever be able to share my Lord with her?
     Are these Greek Jews bandwagon fans of Jesus?  Maybe.  They haven't been in this country to see what Jesus has done, although I'm sure His miracles were news fodder throughout Mesopotamia.  They had only heard the highlights, they hadn't seen an actual game.  Maybe that is why when Jesus is entreated here, He responds with His mission to die.  He makes it clear that they will have to be satisfied with the highlight reels, because His miracle work seems to be at an end.  He will be going to His death in a few short days.  Can you imagine the disappointed "Awwww" from these Greeks who wanted to see some action?  What was their real motivation?  Were they true followers or were they just jumping on the bandwagon?
     I'm afraid that even today, Jesus has some bandwagon followers.  They will follow Jesus as long as He is doing something spectacular in their life.  Do I treat Him so callously?  Do I treat Him like I've treated my beloved Cubs this year?  Have I said, "Lord, you haven't done anything for me lately, I will worship you again next year."?  Haven't done anything for me lately?  How about, I saved your soul.  How about, I've given you every breath in your body.  How about, I've let you live in a country of freedom and plenty.  So many blessings, He has given us, and yet some people fail to see them.  Lord, help me never to treat You so lightly.  Help me to never take for granted all that You have done.  Help me not to tune You out when I'm not happy with Your answers.  I want to be Your follower in good times and bad, not just when it looks like You are winning the game.