What Really Matters
"Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?"
—1 Samuel 17:26
David was awestruck by Goliath, but not because of his size. David was awestruck by the fact that Goliath was blaspheming God and no one was doing anything about it.
So David asked, "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26).
He was saying, "This isn't right. Someone has to do something about this." And immediately David faced opposition. Where did it come from? It came from his own brother, Eliab.
In 1 Samuel 17:28 we read, "But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. 'What are you doing around here anyway?' he demanded. 'What about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of?' "
David's brothers had gone to fight for their country while David was stuck at home. So his father sent him on an errand to see how his brothers were doing and to take them some bread and cheese. David brought them the food, and it was his faithfulness on this errand for his father that resulted in his first great victory.
I find it interesting how sometimes when we set out to do the work of God, we will be opposed by fellow Christians. We have a lost world outside our doors while, all too often, we are quibbling among ourselves. We argue and expend our energy talking about minutiae when we have a world that is on its way to hell.
As Vance Havner said, if we are too busy using our sickles on each other, we will miss the harvest. That is why we must take our eyes off the trivial and focus on what really matters.
So David asked, "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26).
He was saying, "This isn't right. Someone has to do something about this." And immediately David faced opposition. Where did it come from? It came from his own brother, Eliab.
In 1 Samuel 17:28 we read, "But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. 'What are you doing around here anyway?' he demanded. 'What about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of?' "
David's brothers had gone to fight for their country while David was stuck at home. So his father sent him on an errand to see how his brothers were doing and to take them some bread and cheese. David brought them the food, and it was his faithfulness on this errand for his father that resulted in his first great victory.
I find it interesting how sometimes when we set out to do the work of God, we will be opposed by fellow Christians. We have a lost world outside our doors while, all too often, we are quibbling among ourselves. We argue and expend our energy talking about minutiae when we have a world that is on its way to hell.
As Vance Havner said, if we are too busy using our sickles on each other, we will miss the harvest. That is why we must take our eyes off the trivial and focus on what really matters.
~Greg Laurie~
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