"It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" - Romans 9:16
That pretty much sums up Christianity right there. If it was not for God's mercy in this salvation story then none of us, and I mean each and every one of us, would not be worthy of His free gift. How comforting it is to know that it truly is God and His Son who act on our behalf to save us. As a man I try day in and day out to prove to myself and to others that I am worthy. Worthy to be called a 'sports-nut', a 'real man' or even just worthy enough to be called a 'follower of Christ'. That's all well and good y'all but nothing we do compares to what He freely gives. Mercy, salvation and eternal life.
Leads me to a little bit here on Saul, or as I like to call him Wild E. Coyote, and David. We have all read and heard and colored the little pictures in Sunday School of David versus Goliath. That is a story that transcends all time and even those who do not follow Christ. It is such a common story that even Bobby Petrino refered to his Arkansas football team as Goliath leading up to their game against Saban's Alabama. By the end of the game Arkansas had fallen flat on their faces and were beheaded just like Goliath so I'm still confused as to why Petrino would choose that example, but I digress. David put his faith in the Lord and was rewarded with victory. The Lord was with David and Saul noticed such and then started setting up an elaborate set of pulleys and anvils to try and eliminate David. Even David's brother resented him before he had even won the battle, "I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is" (1 Sam 17:28), talk about a demoralizing pep-talk before battle! Saul and Eliab's jealousy of David seems so over-the-top but it's something I do everyday. Somebody else gets more praise at work than I believe they deserve or they just got included in a meeting and I didn't so I resent them for it.
Hopefully I never get so jealous as to use my daughter as a bargaining chip to try to kill a kid that I don't like. But see, that story of Saul resenting and being jealous of David is exactly why I need the mercy of God. I fall short everyday but thanks be to God for having hope and mercy on me! May we all keep that in mind when jealousy starts to creep in or when we start bickering about why a certain one was chosen by God or why God allowed something to happen. We are all chosen by God to follow Him and to put all our faith in Christ Jesus so that in the end we can receive peace, eternal life and a true future!
Rock on for the Lord!
-Pew
Awesome. I hadn't thought too much about David's brother's jealousy until you brought it up, but that's a good point. He had no support even from his own brother much less the Israelite army, but he stood strong anyway.
ReplyDeleteHow about this verse: "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" -17:26
PS I wonder how much 200 Philistine foreskins weigh?
200 foreskins!
ReplyDeleteDo it! Go above and beyond for the Lord. If some asks for 100 give them 200!
PS. they weigh about one small stone.