My wife recently turned me on to a blog that is written by an author who is originally from India. In one of her recent posts, she wrote about an ancient king of India named Bharat. Bharat had 8 sons and as a king, he had to determine who would be his heir. But contrary to tradition, Bharat chose a man who was not one of his sons. Understandably, his family and sons were not happy with this decision because it deprived them of their perceived birthright. Bharat's explanation was that ability and competence trumped birthright. He loved his country too much to leave it in the hands of people he knew to be incompetent (even if they were his own people).
The story fascinated me because it instantly reminded me of Jonathan and David from the old testament. As you probably remember, Jonathan was the son of King Saul. He was also best friends with David. After David's success with Goliath and as a military commander, Saul felt threatened and tried to kill David on numerous occasions. However, Jonathan worked behind the scenes to thwart his fathers murderous attempts and he goes out of his way to encourage his friend David. 1 Samuel 23:15-18 documents one of these accounts - While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this." The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.
It's amazing what all is packed in these couple verses. Remember, Jonathan is Saul's son. That means he is in line for the throne. Yet he is saying David will be king and he will be second to David. He is willfully giving up his birthright. It's hard to wrap my brain around that. From what the bible records about Jonathan, I would assume he would have been a good king. Yet he seems to recognize the greater potential of his friend. Talk about selflessness. I think about this account with respect to my own life. Am I selfless enough to step aside when one more gifted by God comes along? Would I give up a ministry… a job… etc.? Or would I cling to it because it's mine… Would my pride get in the way of what God has planned? Any thoughts? Sometimes the enemy of 'greatness' is 'good enough'.
Have a great week and a great fast.
Your brother,
Bob
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11 years ago
Great post, Bob.
ReplyDeleteI find myself asking that question all the time. The question of whether I'm worthy of all I've been blessed with. I'm sure someone else might do better. Knowing that makes me try to work harder, to make myself worthy, although I don't know if that works.
It's part of understanding what our purpose is. Knowing what we are here to do. If we come to an understanding of why we are here, all the extra things of "mine/yours" fall by the wayside and we become much more interesting and doing what's right, regardless of who gets credit. That's what I hope for, anyway. Maybe that is what Jonathan realised when he made that covenant with David.
Jai
"We become much more interested in doing what's right."
ReplyDeleteJust correcting my garbled sentence in the post above.
Jai