DAILY BYTE
This week our devotions continue to follow the story of David and his remarkable journey from a humble shepherd boy to becoming king. Last week we looked at aspects of David’s story prior to him taking the throne. Now we skip forward in the story. King Saul has fallen on his sword in battle with the Philistines (1 Sam 31) and David has been anointed king.
This part of the story can get a little tricky, and can be difficult to understand. So today we’ll have a brief history lesson to help get things straight in our heads before we proceed with the rest of the devotions this week.
It’s important to understand that at this point in the biblical story there were two distinct tribal groupings in the land. In the south were the tribes of Judah, in the north were the tribes of Israel. These two tribal groupings shared much in common in terms of their faith and family heritage. But there were also significant political fault lines between them. (In later years, after the reign of King Solomon, Israel and Judah would divide into two distinct kingdoms, each having its own king and its own capital.)
David was initially anointed as king over Judah (2 Sam 2) and was based in Hebron. It was only seven years later that he was anointed king over Israel (2 Sam 5) as well, effectively uniting these two tribal groupings into one united kingdom. In seeking to consolidate his power and further meld the kingdom into one, David made a shrewd political move. He seized the Jebusite city of Jerusalem and made it his capital.
There were a few compelling reasons for his choice – Jerusalem was centrally located between the two regions and was in neutral territory that belonged to none of the tribes. Jerusalem therefore represented an excellent compromise for a capital that was acceptable to the tribes of both the north and the south. (There were also other strategic military reasons for capturing Jerusalem, but we cannot get into that here.)
David’s next act of consolidation was equally significant. He transferred the Ark of the Covenant (which contained the two tablets of the Ten Commandments) from Kiriath-Jearim, where it had lain neglected for more than a generation, to Jerusalem, his new capital. The Ark represented a special connection to God and the covenant God had made with the Israelites at Sinai many generations before. It was a powerful symbol of rich religious significance to all of the tribes.
The biblical historian John Bright writes, “It was David’s aim to make Jerusalem the religious as well as the political capital of the realm. Through the Ark he sought to link the newly created state to Israel’s ancient order as its legitimate successor, and to advertise the state as the patron and protector of the sacral institutions of the past. David showed himself far wiser than Saul. Where Saul had neglected the Ark and driven its priesthood from him, David established both the Ark and priesthood in the official national shrine. It was a masterstroke. It must have done more to bind the feelings of the tribes to Jerusalem than we can possibly imagine.”
In case you’re wondering what on earth all this has to do with your life today, over the next couple of days we will explore some of the faith connections arising out of this political history, as we look at how God enters the picture of David’s kingship.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, thank you that in the very down-to-earth processes of political history, your hand can be discerned to be at work. Thank you that this is true not just of the ancient Israelites, but is true of our lives as well. Help us, in the everyday things that happen to discern your presence and influence, as you use the events of our existence to shape your unfolding purposes for our lives. Amen
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
2 Samuel 5:4-5
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Friday, 28 May 2010
David - Part 5
DAILY BYTE
One of the ways in which David experienced God’s blessing in his life was through his friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Jonathan had already established himself as a courageous officer in Saul’s army, a leader in the nation and a hero to the people (see 1 Samuel 14). With these qualities, and as the eldest son of the king, everyone expected that one day he would have assumed the throne as his birthright. But as we’ve already seen, it was David and not Jonathan who had been anointed as the future king of Israel.
If you think about it, this should have been cause for a lasting and bitter feud between Jonathan and David. Yet, Jonathan responds with remarkable integrity and grace, without the slightest hint of jealousy, and with a resolute determination to support what he recognized to be God’s will in this matter.
We read these words in 1 Samuel 18:3-4, “Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”
In establishing a covenantal friendship with David, Jonathan gave to him the symbols of his birthright, his leadership, and his future role as king. He clearly recognized that God’s intention was for David to be king, and so he surrendered any personal claims that he legitimately had to the throne in order to align himself with what God was doing.
Later, when Saul’s jealousy of David provoked murderous intent within him, Jonathan risked his own life in speaking up for David, and then warning him of Saul’s plans to kill him.
What a wonderful example of the loyalty of a friend who was not threatened by the other’s glittering destiny. That’s what soul friends do – they look to the future, to the fulfillment of God’s good purposes in each other’s lives. They help and strengthen each other to accomplish God’s best for each other.
To have such a friend you need to be such a friend. So who do you know who needs your unselfish, supportive and encouraging soul-friendship right now?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Thank you Lord God for the special friendships I have through which I experience your blessing in my life. Thank you particularly for my special friend. Help me to be a true friend to him / her. Keep me from any selfishness, jealousy or competitiveness that would diminish the good gift of friendship that we share, and help us to encourage each other to fulfill your calling in our lives. Amen
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
1 Samuel 20:30-34, 42
Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!"
"Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.
Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David.
In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David….
Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.' " Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
The devotions this week have been written by Rev Roger Scholtz, who is one of the ministers at Manning Road Methodist Church in Durban. Any comments or feedback can be sent to bdc@mrmc.co.za
One of the ways in which David experienced God’s blessing in his life was through his friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Jonathan had already established himself as a courageous officer in Saul’s army, a leader in the nation and a hero to the people (see 1 Samuel 14). With these qualities, and as the eldest son of the king, everyone expected that one day he would have assumed the throne as his birthright. But as we’ve already seen, it was David and not Jonathan who had been anointed as the future king of Israel.
If you think about it, this should have been cause for a lasting and bitter feud between Jonathan and David. Yet, Jonathan responds with remarkable integrity and grace, without the slightest hint of jealousy, and with a resolute determination to support what he recognized to be God’s will in this matter.
We read these words in 1 Samuel 18:3-4, “Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”
In establishing a covenantal friendship with David, Jonathan gave to him the symbols of his birthright, his leadership, and his future role as king. He clearly recognized that God’s intention was for David to be king, and so he surrendered any personal claims that he legitimately had to the throne in order to align himself with what God was doing.
Later, when Saul’s jealousy of David provoked murderous intent within him, Jonathan risked his own life in speaking up for David, and then warning him of Saul’s plans to kill him.
What a wonderful example of the loyalty of a friend who was not threatened by the other’s glittering destiny. That’s what soul friends do – they look to the future, to the fulfillment of God’s good purposes in each other’s lives. They help and strengthen each other to accomplish God’s best for each other.
To have such a friend you need to be such a friend. So who do you know who needs your unselfish, supportive and encouraging soul-friendship right now?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Thank you Lord God for the special friendships I have through which I experience your blessing in my life. Thank you particularly for my special friend. Help me to be a true friend to him / her. Keep me from any selfishness, jealousy or competitiveness that would diminish the good gift of friendship that we share, and help us to encourage each other to fulfill your calling in our lives. Amen
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
1 Samuel 20:30-34, 42
Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!"
"Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.
Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David.
In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David….
Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.' " Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
The devotions this week have been written by Rev Roger Scholtz, who is one of the ministers at Manning Road Methodist Church in Durban. Any comments or feedback can be sent to bdc@mrmc.co.za
Thursday, 27 May 2010
David - Part 4
DAILY BYTE
The story of David and Goliath has become part of our cultural landscape. Even people who have never read the Bible are familiar with their names, and those who don’t believe in God get what most people assume is the moral of the story: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And don’t underestimate the little guy with the sling – he could take down a giant.
The only trouble is that this is NOT the point of the story as the Bible tells it. David didn’t defeat Goliath BECAUSE he was quicker and smarter. Yes, sometimes the small and swift triumph over the large and slow. Yes, sometimes the weak and vulnerable outsmart hostile powers against all the odds. But if we’re honest we’d have to acknowledge that there are just as many times when the big guy triumphs, when the bullies win, when the weak and vulnerable are trampled under foot.
So what is the point of this Biblical story? David defeated Goliath not because of his superior methods of tactical engagement, but because he was willing to place more trust in God than in his own human powers.
Jim Harnish writes, “The story of David’s confrontation with Goliath was told so that the whole earth may know that there is a God who is actively and purposely at work in human history. It affirms that the degree to which we allow ourselves to become a part of that divine purpose, God will work in and through us to accomplish God’s purpose in God’s way in the rough-and-tumble realities of our daily lives…. David’s victory over Goliath is ultimately about a God who acts in human history through ordinary people who place more confidence in God than they do in themselves…. It is about the way ordinary people allow their faith in God to become the power source to energize them when they face the giants in their lives.”
What are you facing right now that seems like an invincible giant mocking your faith and defying God? Cancer? Depression? Unemployment? Addiction? Divorce? Abuse? The good news of this story is that as we align ourselves with God’s power and commit ourselves to following God’s ways, so God’s purposes will be accomplished within our midst, “for the battle is the LORD’s.”
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, remind me that it’s not by might nor by power, but only by your Spirit that I shall overcome. Today, help me to trust you and your ways a little more. Amen
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
1 Samuel 17
A champion named Goliath came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing his words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
But David said to Saul, " The LORD will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me… All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's.”
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
The story of David and Goliath has become part of our cultural landscape. Even people who have never read the Bible are familiar with their names, and those who don’t believe in God get what most people assume is the moral of the story: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And don’t underestimate the little guy with the sling – he could take down a giant.
The only trouble is that this is NOT the point of the story as the Bible tells it. David didn’t defeat Goliath BECAUSE he was quicker and smarter. Yes, sometimes the small and swift triumph over the large and slow. Yes, sometimes the weak and vulnerable outsmart hostile powers against all the odds. But if we’re honest we’d have to acknowledge that there are just as many times when the big guy triumphs, when the bullies win, when the weak and vulnerable are trampled under foot.
So what is the point of this Biblical story? David defeated Goliath not because of his superior methods of tactical engagement, but because he was willing to place more trust in God than in his own human powers.
Jim Harnish writes, “The story of David’s confrontation with Goliath was told so that the whole earth may know that there is a God who is actively and purposely at work in human history. It affirms that the degree to which we allow ourselves to become a part of that divine purpose, God will work in and through us to accomplish God’s purpose in God’s way in the rough-and-tumble realities of our daily lives…. David’s victory over Goliath is ultimately about a God who acts in human history through ordinary people who place more confidence in God than they do in themselves…. It is about the way ordinary people allow their faith in God to become the power source to energize them when they face the giants in their lives.”
What are you facing right now that seems like an invincible giant mocking your faith and defying God? Cancer? Depression? Unemployment? Addiction? Divorce? Abuse? The good news of this story is that as we align ourselves with God’s power and commit ourselves to following God’s ways, so God’s purposes will be accomplished within our midst, “for the battle is the LORD’s.”
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, remind me that it’s not by might nor by power, but only by your Spirit that I shall overcome. Today, help me to trust you and your ways a little more. Amen
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
1 Samuel 17
A champion named Goliath came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing his words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
But David said to Saul, " The LORD will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me… All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's.”
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
David - Part 3
DAILY BYTE
Having been anointed by Samuel as Israel’s future king, David did not immediately take up that mantle of authority and responsibility. Instead, he was drawn into service in the courts of the existing king whose name was Saul.
King Saul was a troubled man. The bible says that “…an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.” Many people find this disturbing, as if God were the source of Saul’s torment. But if we read his story a little more carefully we will see that the roots of his distress lay in his disobedience to the will of God, and his attempt to do things his own way.
Jim Harnish writes, “The Bible does not say that God is the source of evil; but the Bible does say that when God’s goodness is rejected, evil is all that is left. The Bible says that we are created to live with the Spirit of God within us. Take the Spirit away, and the soul is empty. When God is no longer the organizing centre of human experience, we are destined for confusion, darkness, and despair.”
That’s where David enters the scene in service of King Saul. David was gifted at playing the harp, and the beautiful music he made help to soothe the king’s troubled soul.
David’s soothing music is a beautiful metaphor for the healing power that comes through a life that is in harmony with the perfect pitch of God’s will for us. While we can never know God’s will completely, we can know enough to take the next step of obedience. When we do so there is a healing harmony, a restoring resonance that flows from us not just into our own lives, but also into the lives of others.
The best way to discover God’s will for our lives is to look at the example of Jesus and to listen to his words, for as we seek to become more like him we will be becoming more and more the people God created us to be. And through us healing and harmony can flow into the world.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Reflect on these words by Leonard Sweet, and let them prompt a spontaneous prayer of your own to God:
“Jesus acts as a tuning fork to the Creator, the Eternal. If we would seek to get our own lives back in tune with God, it must be through listening to Christ’s frequencies and matching the resonance of our actions and attitudes to Jesus’ pitch.”
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
1 Samuel 16:14-23
Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.
Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."
So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."
One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."
So David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."
Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Psalm 57:1-2, 7-11
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Having been anointed by Samuel as Israel’s future king, David did not immediately take up that mantle of authority and responsibility. Instead, he was drawn into service in the courts of the existing king whose name was Saul.
King Saul was a troubled man. The bible says that “…an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.” Many people find this disturbing, as if God were the source of Saul’s torment. But if we read his story a little more carefully we will see that the roots of his distress lay in his disobedience to the will of God, and his attempt to do things his own way.
Jim Harnish writes, “The Bible does not say that God is the source of evil; but the Bible does say that when God’s goodness is rejected, evil is all that is left. The Bible says that we are created to live with the Spirit of God within us. Take the Spirit away, and the soul is empty. When God is no longer the organizing centre of human experience, we are destined for confusion, darkness, and despair.”
That’s where David enters the scene in service of King Saul. David was gifted at playing the harp, and the beautiful music he made help to soothe the king’s troubled soul.
David’s soothing music is a beautiful metaphor for the healing power that comes through a life that is in harmony with the perfect pitch of God’s will for us. While we can never know God’s will completely, we can know enough to take the next step of obedience. When we do so there is a healing harmony, a restoring resonance that flows from us not just into our own lives, but also into the lives of others.
The best way to discover God’s will for our lives is to look at the example of Jesus and to listen to his words, for as we seek to become more like him we will be becoming more and more the people God created us to be. And through us healing and harmony can flow into the world.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Reflect on these words by Leonard Sweet, and let them prompt a spontaneous prayer of your own to God:
“Jesus acts as a tuning fork to the Creator, the Eternal. If we would seek to get our own lives back in tune with God, it must be through listening to Christ’s frequencies and matching the resonance of our actions and attitudes to Jesus’ pitch.”
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
1 Samuel 16:14-23
Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.
Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."
So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."
One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."
So David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."
Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Psalm 57:1-2, 7-11
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
David - Part 2
DAILY BYTE
Yesterday, we started looking at the story of David, and reflected briefly on how he was the one chosen and anointed as the future king of Israel, even though he was the ‘kid at the end of the line’ – the youngest and most insignificant member of his family.
Over and over again throughout Scripture, God demonstrates a remarkable eagerness to use the kinds of people that would normally not be given a second look by the world. God is not concerned about external appearances, about outward qualities and qualifications. God is far more interested with what is going on inside of us – with our hearts. And God is able to recognize the best within us, and the capacity for true greatness that lies within all people, because all of us have been created in God’s image, and there is in us a divine likeness that we all bear.
Which means that nobody is beyond the call of God. There is nobody whom God would regard as useless. And when God’s call is heard and we realize that God has plans for our lives, something comes alive within us.
Jim Harnish writes, “A calling is an inner awareness that God has a divine purpose for our existence. It is a deep sense of being ‘at home’ with the person we are becoming. It is a maturing consciousness of our value as a person created in God’s image, redeemed by God’s love, and chosen by God for the abundant life that Jesus said he came to bring.”
As you think about your own life, do you think that you are of little or even no use to God? Stop! The truth is that God continues to see things within us that others, and especially ourselves, often miss. And while God can do His work on His own, He chooses not to. For God delights in calling ordinary people like you and me to move beyond the narrowness of our self-absorbed lives into the wide open spaces of God’s plan and purposes for the entire world. He longs for us to be a part of that.
What is God calling you to do for Him today?
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, it’s hard for me to believe that you want me, and need me, to be part of your loving purposes in the world. Help me to accept that your perspective really can be trusted, and that if you believe in me, then who am I am to argue. Help me to listen to your Spirit’s stirring within me, that your calling for my life would become clear. And help me to embrace your calling, whatever the cost or inconvenience of doing so may be, and to follow it with courage, obedience and determination. Amen.
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
Our scripture reading today comes from Psalm 8, one of the psalms that David wrote. It is a beautiful psalm that affirms the central place and the purpose that humans have been given by God within the world.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honour.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Yesterday, we started looking at the story of David, and reflected briefly on how he was the one chosen and anointed as the future king of Israel, even though he was the ‘kid at the end of the line’ – the youngest and most insignificant member of his family.
Over and over again throughout Scripture, God demonstrates a remarkable eagerness to use the kinds of people that would normally not be given a second look by the world. God is not concerned about external appearances, about outward qualities and qualifications. God is far more interested with what is going on inside of us – with our hearts. And God is able to recognize the best within us, and the capacity for true greatness that lies within all people, because all of us have been created in God’s image, and there is in us a divine likeness that we all bear.
Which means that nobody is beyond the call of God. There is nobody whom God would regard as useless. And when God’s call is heard and we realize that God has plans for our lives, something comes alive within us.
Jim Harnish writes, “A calling is an inner awareness that God has a divine purpose for our existence. It is a deep sense of being ‘at home’ with the person we are becoming. It is a maturing consciousness of our value as a person created in God’s image, redeemed by God’s love, and chosen by God for the abundant life that Jesus said he came to bring.”
As you think about your own life, do you think that you are of little or even no use to God? Stop! The truth is that God continues to see things within us that others, and especially ourselves, often miss. And while God can do His work on His own, He chooses not to. For God delights in calling ordinary people like you and me to move beyond the narrowness of our self-absorbed lives into the wide open spaces of God’s plan and purposes for the entire world. He longs for us to be a part of that.
What is God calling you to do for Him today?
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, it’s hard for me to believe that you want me, and need me, to be part of your loving purposes in the world. Help me to accept that your perspective really can be trusted, and that if you believe in me, then who am I am to argue. Help me to listen to your Spirit’s stirring within me, that your calling for my life would become clear. And help me to embrace your calling, whatever the cost or inconvenience of doing so may be, and to follow it with courage, obedience and determination. Amen.
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
Our scripture reading today comes from Psalm 8, one of the psalms that David wrote. It is a beautiful psalm that affirms the central place and the purpose that humans have been given by God within the world.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honour.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
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