Thursday 28 January 2021

Thought for the Day 28th. January 2021 One Life ... but HOW will we live it?

AUDIO

We get quite a lot of Landrovers around here that are used very much for agricultural purposes and in the winter they can be pretty much needed.

We even run a Chaplaincy Landrover!

But every summer we've been used to getting much cleaner Landrovers around our roads.  They're obviously driven by a friendly lot of visitors because if you are driving your Landrover, their drivers always wave at you ... even though they don't know you and obviously aren't from around here.

Landrover owners that are into philosophy

Quite a lot of them seem to be into philosophy too, because they often have a sticker somewhere on their truck that says, quite boldly: One Life - Live it.


I'm not sure that sticker's very helpful, really. It doesn't answer the much bigger question.
 

It's all very well to say 'Live it' ... but that doesn't help with the bigger question: 'HOW?'!

King David's mother may have something to teach us here about how to make a difference with your one allotted life.

We know a lot about David's father, but only one thing about his mother.

They were quite a family ...

"Jesse was the father of

Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab, the third Shimea, the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, the sixth Ozem and the seventh David."

Seven boys was a lot for any mother to cope with, but then there were two daughters as well ... 

"Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail."

Then there were four grandchildren, from at least one cross-cultural marriage, to cope with too:

"Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab and Asahel. 

Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite."

1 Chronicles 2:13-17


David - the 'not-so-favourite' son of his father


We have reason to think that Jesse didn't think too much of his youngest son, David. 

The relationship may not have been very good, because David was relegated to living in the desert with the sheep, and when the prophet Samuel visited Jesse to anoint one of the boys to be King, David was dismissed by his father as a possibility ... blind to the visible promise that was in the boy:

"‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesse answered. ‘He is tending the sheep.’

Samuel said, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.’

So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; this is the one.’"

1 Samuel 16:10-12

The relationship can't have been great ... but LOOK what David says about his un-named mother (about whom we know absolutely nothing else)


One life lived so that it was well-invested

King David lived a very troubled life ... he was richly blessed and used by God, but the blessings would come through many a battle.

He'd grown used to a tough experience in his younger years with the treatment he got from his father, and the hardships of the life of a desert shepherd.

But how did his mother prepare David to be resilient through all the trials and the troubles that lay ahead of her son in this life?

According to David she'd taught him, by the power of her example, that the way to live resiliently was to live as in the service of the Lord.

And LOOK at the heritage that gave rise to, and look at the impact that resulted as the fruit of this nameless faithful woman's godly example ... the Apostle Paul puts it like this:

"Isaiah says,

‘The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.’

And it's that very verse which enables the Apostle Paul to pray for all non-Jewish people everywhere:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:12-13

The Takeaway

It's not really very contentious to say that the best investment we can make in our young people is to prepare them well for what lies ahead in life. 

Here David's unsung hero mother shows us the way.

So if you want to make something of your life, change the slogan:

You have One life - be sure to INVEST it!

"I serve you just as my mother did;
    you have freed me from my chains."

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