Do You Have A Heart For Making God’s Thoughts Your Own?
Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday I mentioned that the parables of the patched cloth and the wineskins were sandwiched in between two similar confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees. Today’s lectionary selection has the other side of the sandwich and indeed, no joking it is related to bread…Holy Bread. The companion scripture from Samuel, as does the passage from Mark, both relate to the challenge of following laws that are no longer helpful. In the scripture, we see the importance of the character of David and why God choose him to be King. We see a new way being formed, and it is instructive for us in understanding the purpose of the law of love. You see, Jesus uses this to teach us something very important. In the story of David, Jesus describes a discerning of the law related to David’s role and to his relationship with God and with people. As David guides his hungry troops to eat the Bread of the Presence in the Temple he realizes it is against the law but also that it is God’s will for him to eat. And that prompts today’s reflection about the purpose of laws in our church and society and our response to them. Do You Have A Heart For Making God’s Thoughts Your Own?
Scripture: The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NRSV)
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Mark 2:23-28 (NRSV)
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.
Psalm 139:17-18 (NRSV)
Message: We all like compliments. Mark Twain said that he could live on a good compliment for two weeks with nothing else to eat. As a Christian, I can think of no higher compliment than to be described as a man or woman with a heart after God’s heart, and when that compliment comes from God Himself, as in today’s scripture, we had better take notice. If you read the Bible on a regular basis one of the things you may start to notice is that it rarely flatters its characters. It tells us the complete truth, good and bad, about everyone we meet. This is one of the reasons that it is Holy, for it rarely shows us in a good light but instead a true and fair light. And because of this it gives us a wonderful glimpse into the grace and mercy of God and yes, difficult though it is, even the thoughts of God. Now today’s scripture touches on one of those men that exemplifies the desire of making God’s thoughts his own thoughts and it gives us some insight into how to think about all the legalistic limitations that confront our existence and the reality that they can stunt our spiritual growth. The man I am writing about this morning is David for he overcame the challenge of the laws and instead sought a heart for God that allowed him to open his mind to the thoughts of God. Now more has been written about David than about any other biblical character. David has sixty-six chapters dedicated to him, not including fifty-nine references in the New Testament. He is important to today’s devotional because David is dedicated to God in every aspect of his very earthly life but still breaks the law. Yes, he had God’s spirit working powerfully in and through him, but he was still capable of the most glaring sins, both public and private sins, as well as private sins that went public. He was capable of tremendous grace, huge faith, deep emotions, incredible courage and immense financial generosity. But he was also subject to deep depression, fits of rage, tremendous lust, lying, and deceiving. Thankfully God chooses him as King anyway, for God chooses nobodies and makes them into somebodies. And thankfully God takes all the time necessary to develop people after His own heart. So, embrace the life-long process realizing there are some laws we were meant to break. Being perfect is only found in a relationship with God. Friends, God is still looking for in men and women whose heart is fully engaged in following Jesus. This is the only way to true obedience.
Pray we are honest. Pray we repent by directing our heart to God. Pray we are Spirit-filled. Pray we spend time alone with God. Pray we are obedient in small things so we might be prepared to be used by God for divine purposes. Pray we realize that God’s laws were made for humans not humans for the law. Pray we develop spiritual integrity. Pray we realize that in our fighting, praying, loving and sinning God is still at work molding us. Pray we better understand each day what God is looking for in our behavior. Pray we are a people that have a heart for God’s heart. Pray our individual and collective heart is a home for God. Pray when things get tough that we reassure our heart to trust God. Pray we are confident of God’s presence in us. Pray we realize that it is a long, long journey and we will get hungry on the way. Pray therefor we eat scripture daily so we might learn the thoughts of God and make them our own. Pray we find in them encouragement from God to do the right thing.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 