READ: 1 Chronicles 10-12
THINK: I don’t know about you, but the part of this section that just jumps off the pages at me is the story of the notorious Three – the triumvirate of the mightiest and boldest among David’s 30 Mighty Men – breaking through the Philistine lines to get David some water because he said that he wanted it. I read that and I think: “Seriously!?! What a ridiculous thing to do. Those guys were crazy. And awesome. I wanna be like them!”
The context behind David’s longing is deeper than it appears. The passage lets us know that David is sitting in a cave overlooking the Philistine army which is occupying Bethlehem. What is significant to about this? That’s David’s home town. He was born in Bethlehem. He grew up there. He didn’t know water was in the well by Bethlehem’s gate because he was looking down on the well. He knew it because he’d gone to that well with his mother as boy to draw water. He knew it because he had grown up on that water. He didn’t just want a drink. He wanted a drink of that water, with that taste that he knew so well.
So his men, knowing this, said, “Our king wants some water. Let’s go get it.” The way the story is shaped makes it seem like it wasn’t even a question for them. They didn’t deliberate. They didn’t consider the risks. They didn’t do a cost-benefit analysis. They sought out their master to see what he wanted, learned what he wanted, and walked out of that cave with an ironclad determination to see that it happened. And David was so overwhelmed by what they did that he poured out the water as an offering to God, not because he was angry with them but because he was so deeply honored by their passionate devotion.
Do we serve our Master that way? Are we that passionately devoted to our King? The truth is, for many of us, we don’t even bother to seek out God and see what his will is let alone take bold action to accomplish it. Step one is lining our hearts up with God’s heart, allowing him to break them for what breaks his, and asking for his eyes to see what he wants accomplished in our world. That’s not easy. But it is the easy step. Step 2 is walking out into the world with a commitment to risky obedience. It is taking a leap of faith that says, “I will go to see that God’s will is accomplished in my world and in the lives of the people around me no matter what the cost! Christ gave his life for me and so there is no cost too great for me to pay in order to share him and his love with others.”
That’s the attitude that the Three had. I wanna be like them so bad. I want to be one of God’s Mighty Men on this earth. But I know that means risky obedience. I know that it means putting so much faith in God that I regularly find myself in situations where I will look like a fool and lose everything if he doesn’t come through for me. But Mighty Men & Women change the world while others cower in the cave. Mighty Men & Women create a better future for the people around them. You wanna join me?
PRAY: Pray that God would give you enough faith that you would be bold and you would engage in risky obedience to see his heart for this world accomplished.
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YES! I do want to join you! Thanks for making this passage come alive! I never had noticed/thought about the Bethlehem connection- little notes like that make a passage come alive for me, thank you!
I loved this story too! How cool is that? Those guys were awesome…..