Happy Jesus Day!
2nd Samuel chapter 20
There are four men mentioned in this chapter which each seems to depict a certain level of faithfulness to the king. I have compared their faithfulness to the King as our faithfulness to the church.
In this chapter Sheba rebelled against the king. Today we have people fighting hard to destroy Christianity. Our media, our government, our laws and any atheist who want to see Christianity removed. There are many out there trying to destroy the message of Jesus. There are those who attend church but fight the whole time because they don't want to go but they are made to. So they rebel with their lifestyle as a way of declaring themselves.
Amasa was not a faithful follower of the king. Today we have our churchgoers who attend church unless something more important comes up. The hunger and drive for Jesus is not there. They're not willing to forsake all things in order to follow Christ faithfully. They're easily overcome with distractions: “important” distractions. They justify their distractions with a holy twist. Such people can't be entrusted with given responsibilities within the church.
Abishai was a faithful follower of the king. You could trust him. In the church we look for faithful followers but they are rare. Abishai was one who seemed very willing to serve and available to do work for the Lord. He was 100% committed and could be trusted to do the work presented to him. We need more people like that in the church. Willing people!! Ready to serve!!
Joab was a very zealous or perhaps very passionate follower of the king. I'm not sure how to label Joab. Perhaps overzealous because he takes things into his own hands at times because he doesn't tolerate disobedience. He was quick to kill Absalom and now quick to kill Amasa. Perhaps Joab is very judgmental because he is quick to judge people versus being gracious or compassionate. Perhaps we could say he was spot-on for not tolerating disobedience. Whichever category you wish to put him in, I have to say disobedience can't be tolerated within the church. But how you deal with it depends upon the individual. Some are outright disobedient and don't care. Such people often need to be disciplined in some manner. While there are those struggling with sin within the church but want help to overcome such sin. Such individuals require more compassion and encouragement.
A question is which person best describes you and your commitment to the Lord and to the church? One who rebels? One who is wishy-washy? One who is faithful? One who is overzealous? One who is very passionate? One who is judgemental?
I like how Pastor Blair has compared the four men in this chapter with the various levels of faithfulness. Those who weren’t faithful were taken out before the end of the chapter. May we be committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus as part of His body, the church and may we faithfully serve the Lord in all that we say, think and do.
I’m thinking today about Psalm 37:3-4.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”