Day 79, or March 20.
Don't Forget Your Family Responsibilities.
Our thoughts today are rooted in 1 Samuel chapter 22 verses 3 and 4.
David went to Mizpah in Moab, and said to the king of Moab, Would you let my father
and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?
So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was
in the stronghold.
First, the big picture surrounding these verses.
Even though David had been anointed as king, he resists any temptation to replace Saul
by force.
He still accepts him as king and the Lord's anointed, and is willing to wait for God's
timing to become king himself.
Even though David would be a popular choice amongst the people, he knows that God's
timing is best.
Saul is not sure that David won't kill him, so he spends a great deal of time and effort
trying to kill him.
Killing David would make his own position safe, and guarantee that his successor was
Jonathan.
Ironically, David's best friend.
David is protected and supported by priests, and is fed by them.
This results in Saul killing the priests, which goes a long way to confirm that he is
now totally unsuitable to be king.
But still David waits for God to act, rather than take over with a violent coup.
And now today's action step.
I worked with a man some years ago and discovered that he had not seen his parents for many
years.
In fact, he wasn't sure where they lived or even if they were still alive.
This shocked me because my colleague was a very sociable man in the office.
It's interesting that David, who has been anointed king, but who is constantly on the
run because Saul wants him dead, takes time to look after his parents, and takes them
to a safe place, to a friend who will take care of them.
I've seen too many Christians who in responding to God's recent call, neglect their earlier
call to be a caring relative or friend.
Be sure that you are a godly child or parent before you can think about being a godly worker.
It's all part of being a godly disciple of Christ.