APRIL 19 READINGS...1 Samuel 30:1-31 & 1 Chronicles 12:20-22 & 1 Samuel 31:1-13 & 1 Chronicles 10:1-14 & 1 Chronicles 9:40-44 & 2 Samuel 4:4 & 2 Samuel 1:1-27
Today's reading is filled with much sadness...so many things happened that did not need to happen. Saul is killed, but not only Saul, his sons are killed too. They are killed in battle with the Philistines because Saul would not listen to the Lord. He had abandoned the Lord...and the Lord had left him to his own devices. There is a great lesson here for us. So many times, people reject, ignore, and are intentionally disobedient to the Lord...then when trouble hits they want God to fix things for them. God is not some magic genie in the sky who sits around waiting to hear our next wish for Him to make things right for us. Our faith requires an acknowledgment of who God is, and a submission to Him in both worship and obedience. He doesn't exist to fix our bad decisions...nor is He required to be responsive to someone who has ignored and disobeyed Him. Certainly, the Lord is gracious, and continues to do more for us than we deserve...but that is because of who He is, not because we have the right to demand that He do what we want. Saul was disobedient, and his disobedience not only cost him...it cost all those around him. Sin and disobedience to God always cost more than we expect.
David though continues to show a heart that is after the Lord. There is no rejoicing for David in the death of Saul. Several times before when David had the opportunity to killed Saul he refused to do so...David knew that Saul was in God's hands, and it was not his place to kill the Lord's anointed. David would be a great king, because he genuinely had a heart for the Lord. David honored Saul, not because Saul deserved it, but because Saul was God's man until the day the Lord chose to remove him. David mourns for Saul and Jonathan...especially for Jonathan. The end of all comes in death. The question we have to deal with is how did we live the life given to us by the Lord. Not everyone will be a king like Saul...but everyone has the call of God on their lives. What will we do with the call God has placed on our lives? Will we be good stewards of God's call? Will we have hearts that are after the heart of God...or will we waste our lives in sin, disobedience, and void of proper recognition of the God who created us and called us? I pray that each of us will live our God given life to the fullest in response to the Lord!
Please share your thoughts and insights on today's readings. Pray that God would give us all hearts after His heart. Listen carefully to the Lord through His Word today...and follow Him whole-heartedly!
TOMORROW'S READINGS...2 Samuel 2:1-3:5 & 1 Chronicles 3:1-4a & 2 Samuel 23:8-17 &
1 Chronicles 11:10-19 & 2 Samuel 23:18-39 & 1 Chronicles 11:20-47
Comentários