Today's readings are 1 Samuel 18.10-30 and Acts 27.27-44.
Safe? Not necessarily in the way you might think. The Lord had anointed David to be king of Israel. Yet this did not keep David from being placed in positions which seemed quite dangerous. In today's reading not only is David almost pinned to the wall by Saul, he is also sent on a mission to find and kill a hundred Philistines. No, this doesn't exactly seem safe. Likewise, being a Christian in these modern times doesn't exactly seem safe. The twentieth century was statistically the most dangerous one in history to be a Christian. The twenty-first century so far seems to be a rival for first place. It's a world where people are routinely killed on account of their faith. Not only that, but believing people die what we would consider "untimely" deaths. It only takes one auto accident, one industrial accident, one heart attack, one infection of influenza to kill a person. Is it safe?
Psalm 139 tells us that before we were born God had lovingly numbered all our days. Matthew 28 gives us Jesus' promise that he will be with his servants. Does our Lord protect his people? Yes he does. There is no believer who dies outside of God's loving knowledge and protection. There is no believer who fails to fulfill the number of days the Lord has laid out. There is no believer whose physical death causes him to perish. There is no believer who is outside of God's gracious love. Yes, we are perfectly safe.
Let us not be fatalistic - living recklessly because God will protect us. But we can and should live every day in trust that the Lord will graciously protect us and use us according to his plan in that very day the Lord has made.
Safe? Not necessarily in the way you might think. The Lord had anointed David to be king of Israel. Yet this did not keep David from being placed in positions which seemed quite dangerous. In today's reading not only is David almost pinned to the wall by Saul, he is also sent on a mission to find and kill a hundred Philistines. No, this doesn't exactly seem safe. Likewise, being a Christian in these modern times doesn't exactly seem safe. The twentieth century was statistically the most dangerous one in history to be a Christian. The twenty-first century so far seems to be a rival for first place. It's a world where people are routinely killed on account of their faith. Not only that, but believing people die what we would consider "untimely" deaths. It only takes one auto accident, one industrial accident, one heart attack, one infection of influenza to kill a person. Is it safe?
Psalm 139 tells us that before we were born God had lovingly numbered all our days. Matthew 28 gives us Jesus' promise that he will be with his servants. Does our Lord protect his people? Yes he does. There is no believer who dies outside of God's loving knowledge and protection. There is no believer who fails to fulfill the number of days the Lord has laid out. There is no believer whose physical death causes him to perish. There is no believer who is outside of God's gracious love. Yes, we are perfectly safe.
Let us not be fatalistic - living recklessly because God will protect us. But we can and should live every day in trust that the Lord will graciously protect us and use us according to his plan in that very day the Lord has made.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com
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