1 Samuel 30:24
“The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”
Googling to find the meaning of share, I found the following words: apportion equally. I chuckled remembering how we shared the Hershey’s Reese’s Selecta Ice Cream last weekend. It was MY discovery when we went to do groceries. In my mind, I was greeding MINE! hahaha! But of course, I had to share it with my family. Tristan knew how much I loved Reese’s and so whenever my turn comes to have a spoonful, he made sure mine’s with a big chunk. It was a superb delight, but I guess our share definition missed the mark.
When David and his men returned from overtaking the Amalek raiders, they were not just able to recover their wives and children, but also a great amount of plunder. I’m sure the four hundred were already calculating their portion and the comforts they can acquire with it. Crossing that ravine again, they were greeted by the two hundred who were left behind. Filled with greed and pride, they readily defended their rightful share and debased their weaker brothers as unworthy of any slice. Imagine coming out alive in a tragedy and while everybody else was just praising God to still have their family with them, you’ll hear some people keeping stocks to themselves. Blood-boil right? David rebuked his men not in raging impatience, as some of us might do, but in truth. These were his exact words, ‘My brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us.’ Grace tells us that no one deserves favor from God. Not the naughty, not the nice. The four hundred were not the rescuers. It was not even David. It was all God’s work. He is the Landowner who has the right to apportion. Are we envious because He’s generous?
When we see the wicked prospering, why are we downhearted? Because we’re more deserving? When we’ve been working to death and a co-worker gets promoted, do we cry unfair? Are we saying God is unjust? When we’re up there, we may see our compensation equal to our task. Serves us right, we say. But when we’re down there and favored with a lot, aren’t we more inclined to call it a blessing? If we’re to apportion according to gratefulness, who will you choose? I don’t say that is how God operates. Of course He rewards us accordingly. But He gives not according to our merits, but because He is Grace. Now He’s calling us to share - - to apportion equally. Not from our spare, not in favor of friends, but according to His grace. I guess that’s a chunk of Reese’s for all of us! Cheers to Grace!
No comments:
Post a Comment