Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 11; Romans 13
The beginning of 1 Samuel 11 is really sticking out to me today and I’m not entirely sure why. I know why it strikes me, and we’ll get to that in a second, but as I’ve been praying about the reading today and what the Lord would have me write about, this is what keeps coming up. So I’m not sure if He will give me something to say as I write, or maybe He has something in this for someone reading this post. I don’t really know, so I’m just going to start writing it and I guess we will find out together.
This passage stands out to me though in just how willing the men of Jabesh-gilead were to settle for so much less than what God had for them. Look at how they responded when Nahash the Ammonite besieged the city. They said, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” The only reason they sent for help was because Nahash would only accept their offer if they also allowed him to gouge out all of their right eyes. But even then, they were willing to agree to this if nobody came to help them.
Do you see what is so wrong with this picture? The people of Jabesh were Israelites, the people of Yahweh. God had given them the land and made many promises to protect and prosper them within the land, as long as they stayed faithful to Him. And this is coming from the God who single-handedly defeated Egypt in order to rescue His people. The God who delivered Israel from Egypt can certainly handle wee-little Nahash over here! And yet, despite being backed by Yahweh Himself, the men of Jabesh don’t even hesitate to offer their servitude to Nahash. Literally the only thing that stops God’s people from selling themselves as slaves is that demanding they each have one of their eyes gouged out is going just a little bit too far. How ridiculous is that??
God had for them to be free and well provided in the land, but they were willing to settle for being slaves.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there are areas in our lives where we are not too far from the men of Jabesh.
God offers us a life of purpose and eternal significance in Christ, but the world tells us our value and purpose come from success and notoriety. Ignoring the better thing God has for us, we willingly throw ourselves into our career, hobbies, or children (in a bad way), seeking purpose in whatever the people around us tells us success looks like in that area.
God tells us He knows we need food and clothing and He will provide for us, but the world tells us we need more than just clothing, we need the latest clothing, and a nicer car, and a bigger house, and nicer furniture to fill the bigger house, and etc., etc., etc. Ignoring the contentment that God offers us in a simpler and quieter life in Him, we work longer hours, take on more debt, stress constantly, and never actually feel like we have enough because, even when we have way more than we need, a thousand advertisers are getting paid great money to convince us we still don’t have enough.
God tells us that joy is found in relationship with Him, getting to know Him better, spending time in His Word and praying, but the world tells us we will find it in endless entertainment. Ignoring the lasting joy that God offers us, we glue our eyes to our phones, endlessly scrolling social media, barely even looking up from our phones while we binge the latest series on one of our dozen streaming platforms, endlessly play video games, or watch another few hours of porn.
For every promise of God, and for every good thing God has for us, the world has a substitute. God offers us freely, but what the world offers us only enslaves us more deeply to it, never actually paying out on any of its promises. And yet, how quickly will we simply accept what the world is offering us and run after it, never actually stopping to ask if this is what the Lord would have for us, or if He might have something so much better?
Lord, if there are areas in my life where I am acting like the men of Jabesh, willingly selling myself as a slave to lesser things than what you have for me without ever stopping to examine them, show me today! Open my eyes to see rightly where in my life I am enslaving myself to things from which you have set me free in Christ. Lead me to rest more deeply and more fully in you, Lord, and to experience more fully the abundance of life and goodness that you desire for me in Christ.
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