Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 26-27
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 26:23
May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.
We may be dismayed as a result of this reading. Man’s inhumanity to man is evident, and yet David was loyal to Saul. It’s hard to understand the violence and the circumstances. While David continued the struggle against his enemies, we have the advantage of looking ahead through the centuries to the Seed of David, Jesus, who has won the ultimate battle against the “last enemy” (1 Cor. 15:20-28). “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” There is one thing we can understand and believe, the words of the angels in Luke 24:6: “He is not here, He is risen!”
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, in another resurrection chapter (1 Cor. 15), Your servant Paul draws a conclusion from the fact that You are risen from the dead. I conclude with Paul that I am to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” I pray for Your resurrection power to be released more and more in me to produce in a greater way those results. In Your conquering Name, Jesus, I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
On several occasions I’ve stood at the graves of my mother and father, one in Ruperts, Quebec, and the other in Elgin, Ontario. At their funerals, I heard the minister say the words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life.” I thought, “It’s true. I believe it.” As I read the words on the stones, I said, “O Lord, the resurrection could happen right now while I’m standing here.” I walk away knowing that there’s still work to be done. My favorite episode of the animated video series, God Rocks, created by Bruce Stacey, is called “Rez, the Rock that Rolled.” The rock’s name had been “Tombstone,” an unhappy, pessimistic rock. But when he was rolled away by the angels and Jesus walked out of the tomb, his name was changed to “Rez!” His whole nature and outlook on life was transformed. Because I believe in the resurrection of Christ, I am a new creation.
