Warning Labels, Week 11 Day 4, 1 Samuel 31, 2 Samuel 6, 22

Warning Labels, Week 11 Day 4, 1 Samuel 31, 2 Samuel 6, 22

Afters years as king, after years of chasing David, King Saul dies.  First his son’s, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shur killed.  Then Saul is critically wounded by archers.  Rather than being captured and killed by the Philistines Saul asks his armor-bearer to kill him.  When the armor bearer won’t do it, Saul kills himself by falling on his own sword.

The Philistines cut off the heads of Saul and his son’s, hang the bodies on a wall, take their armor and put it on display.  David is deeply grieved by what happened.  He recovers their bodies and buries them.  David grieves the king who had dedicated much of his time and resources trying to kill him. 

David begins the process of consolidating his position as king, a process that will take seven years.

Change is hard.  Change almost always involves some sort of lose. Even a good change normally means leaving something behind.  This change which leads to David becoming king was difficult.  David was committed to the ideal that one does not king God’s anointed.   Yet Saul is dead.

The time that we live in is so different from David’s time that it’s hard to put things in perspective. Back then life was so much more violent.  We just had some elections.  Many new leaders were elected.  The leaders they replaced will go back to there or lives or move on to something else.  But in David’s day, if you lost the election, or the war, you generally lost your life.  Change came at a significant price.

Years later, they were moving the Ark from Abinadab’s house to David’s city.  On the way, at Nacon, a guy by the name of Uzzah touches the Ark to steady it.  And because of that irreverent act, God strikes Uzzah dead.  Again, a different time, a different place with different rules.  Today, if we had the Ark it would be plastered with warning labels, “Caution: Touching May Invoke God’s Wrath and Result in Injury or Death.  DO NOT TOUCH!”

We live in a warning label society, in the day and age of the of the safety cap.  “Caution!”  “May Cause…”  “Side effects include…”  “Do not operate…”  “Hot!”

But we don’t put warning labels on the most important thing.  “Caution, Changes Ahead. May result in lose of something dear to your.  Side effects could include but not be limited to, anxiety, disorientation, confusion, discomfort, inability to get your bearings, facing new situations,  lose of old friends or habits, family arguments, heated discussions, uncertainty, even lose of life.”  Following God can be a dangerous business with some pretty extreme side effects.  Jesus gives some pretty significant warnings about the cost of following Him in the New Testament.  But the folks in the Old Testament are still kind of figuring that out.

You can’t listen to God and follow His call for your life without going through change.  It’s just not possible.  But much of the time we try to sugar coat the faith.  We make is sound more like a product commercial, “Things go better with God.”  Fidelity God – Eternal Insurance that you can depend on!”  God won’t really change you, He’ll just make your life better.

But that’s not true, because God can’t really make your life better unless He changes you.  If you truly give your life to God, He Will Change You.  And at times that change will hurt.  At times that change may be difficult.  At times that change will mean losing some parts of your life so that you can experience your new life in Him.

And while giving my life to God and becoming a follower of Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, in many ways it has also been that hardest.  Hardest because I had to change.  It wasn’t possible to really follow Christ and stay the same person that I use to be.  Yeah, the Christian faith should come with a warning label, “Caution!  Difficult Changes Ahead.  To Get a New Life in Christ You Must Give Up Your Old Life.” 

God, walking with You has been an adventure.  And when I look back at my life now, I can see I’m not the same guy that started this journey.  Along the way You’ve taken bits and pieces of my life, bits of me, and replaced them.  And as I look back I can see how great some of those changes have been.  But I also remember not being comfortable or happy with many of those changes while I was going through them.  Thank You for Your faithfulness as You’ve worked those changes in my life.  Thank You for having a better vision of me than I had for myself.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to like the final “me” when I get there, even if I’m not always happy about the process.  Amen

Leonard