[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 355 – Hebrews 12-13; Luke 14 summary!]
In 1 Samuel 26, God again delivers King Saul into David’s hands, and once again David spares Saul’s life. This time the LORD caused a supernatural sleep to fall on Saul and his entire army, which allowed David and Abishai to go into the camp. They took Saul’s spear and water jug, then went some distance away and called out to Abner, Saul’s body guard. When Saul realized David had once again spared his life, he told David he wouldn’t search for him again and pronounced a blessing on David’s life. While Saul caused most of his own problems (don’t we all most of the time?), he went back and forth between doing the right thing, and letting his selfishness cause him to listen to bad advice, and to be jealous of David, who would have gladly given his life for Saul. If we learn anything from these incidents, we ought to learn to trust those whose relationship with us is based on their relationship with God first-and-foremost. In the same way, we need to learn to live out our relationships with others through the Holy Spirit. That way, we won’t be led by our selfish desires or swayed by the opinions of those who are being swayed by their own selfishness or the world’s thinking.
1 Samuel 27 records David’s plan for escaping from the fickle Saul, who had promised not to pursue him any longer, but in David’s mind could not be trusted. David and his men moved to Gath in the land of the Philistines. He made an agreement to serve King Achish, so Achish gave him and his men the town of Ziklag. David and his men would go out to the surrounding towns of the Girzites and the Amalekites and attack. He would kill every person and bring the spoils back, giving some to Achish. But David told Achish he was attacking towns in Judah. In this way, David gained the confidence of Achish, while not destroying his ability to return to Judah one day, when Saul died or lost power in Israel. When we look at the plan, filled with deception as it was, we can’t say it was God’s will that David do this. Yet, ultimately it provided David the opportunity to become King of Israel, as God had promised David he would be. God didn’t make David sin or do what was deceptive. That’s so important for us to understand. But eventually God used the flawed David, because all he has are “flawsome” (flawed + awesome) not “awesome” people.
In 1 Samuel 28, we see Saul’s desperation, as he seeks a witch’s help in conjuring up Samuel, who has been dead for some time. Saul faced another battle with the Philistines, and he wanted to know what the outcome would be. Saul had outlawed witches, but he tricked the witch of Endor to help him by dressing in disguise. Much debate has taken place over who or what the witch conjured up for Saul. It wasn’t Samuel, but could have been a “familiar spirit,” or other demonic being. In any case, Saul received the worst possible news–the Israelites would lose the battle and Saul would die. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the chapter King Achish had told David he and his men would be fighting for the Philistines against Israel in the impending battle. David said he would be loyal to Achish, but as we’ll see God would intervene once again, so David would not have to fight against his own people. While each of us has freedom to exercise our wills in our daily lives, to make choices, decisions and commitments that impact our presents and our futures, nothing takes place outside of God’s knowledge or sovereignty. He doesn’t dictate our lives, but He directs them.
As we return to Mark 6, we’re reminded once again that Jesus was not only rejected by the Jewish religious leaders. He was also rejected by the people in His hometown. He couldn’t do many miracles there, because of the people’s lack of faith. As we seek to live and serve among our family members, we might find at times that we, too, are rejected by those closest to us. The first time I preached a sermon as an ordained minister, my Mom was at the service. When it was over, she said to me, “When I saw you up there, wearing your robe (at the time the church I served had the pastors wear black robes) and preaching, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What she meant was she remembered all the times in my life when I had done bad things, foolish things, silly things. She was, after all, the one who brought me into the world. Holding all that in her mind, it was hard for her to see me as a “preacher.” At the same time, she knew how God had worked in my life. That allowed her to receive the message, and me as a preacher, even though she knew all my flaws. We will help those closest to us, when they struggle with whether to accept our authority from a faith perspective, if we let the Holy Spirit lead more and more, day by day, so they see more of Jesus living through us.
Day 355 – Hebrews 12-13; Luke 14
In Hebrews 12, the author reminds us to imitate Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. He also reminds us, because God loves us He corrects us. Only illegitimate children aren’t corrected for doing wrong. He challenges us not to refuse God and His purposes for our lives.
Hebrews 13 offers closing exhortations. This is somewhat of a “laundry list” of commands. It includes the command to be hospitable, to remember those in prison, to honor marriage, to remember Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. It also takes the time to remind the people to honor their leaders, and to submit to them, because they watch over the people as those who must give an account to Jesus one day. This is a solemn reminder we are an army and not just a family. God has called us to go throughout the world in Jesus’ name and present the gospel to everyone. This requires leadership and “followership.” As we respect both responsibilities the gospel advances, and God’s Kingdom grows.
As we return to Luke 14, Jesus once again heals a man on the Sabbath. Next, He tells several parables. The first focuses on not taking the seat of honor when you attend a wedding or celebration, but to wait and let the host seat you. It’s a way of saying, “Be humble.” The next parable tells of a wedding feast to which the invited guests would not attend. The master simply invited others to come, because the feast symbolizes His Kingdom, and He will have it be full. Jesus follows this up with some comments about the cost of following Him, and the importance of counting the cost before we embark on the journey! The chapter closes with Jesus reminding us the importance of continuing to maintain our “flavor,” as the “salt of the earth,” which He calls us to be.