David was afraid of the LORD that day…. (2 Samuel 6:9, NIV)
We have spent two challenging days looking at the serious nature of the God who commands the eternal kingdom. What we have discovered is that God is not trifling and we are not to trifle with him.
This may seem as self-evident as the fact that when tournament time comes, you want to be thinking your clearest, trying your hardest, and playing your best. No messing around.
But in truth, in the West, such serious effort is rare. We enjoy our casual rounds with friends, and we enjoy a relaxed approach to faith. And doesn’t grace allow us that luxury? Isn’t our “personal relationship” a friendship with a kickback God?
The apostle Paul addressed this way of thinking when he wrote to the Corinthians using an athletic analogy that still catches our attention today: “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-26).
The power in this passage is in how it reminds us that God has called us to go all out. This is the very thing that David did after the death of Uzzah for touching the ark of God. We read that David was angry because of the Lord’s wrath, but that the strong discipline of God drove home a critical truth for the man who would lead Israel from the king’s throne: God means business.
David’s response becomes instructional for us. He could well have assessed the situation as overly harsh and walked away from God. He did not. Rather, he responded in righteous fear. He came to grips with the Lord and then went after the ark, this time returning it to Jerusalem with care, sacrifice, and worship. God reigned and David served under him.
If we in our modern “easy believism” dismiss David’s kind of response as Old Testament reverence or legalism, we find ourselves ignoring Jesus’ own teaching that “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
Throughout Scripture, then, we find the thread of God’s own this-is-serious approach. So serious was he about rescuing us from our sin that he came as Jesus and went to the cross, shedding his blood in deep pain for us. There really should be no question that the appropriate response for us is one of dedicated living for him.
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Jeff Hopper
December 5, 2012
Copyright 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.