Honorbound Devotion: 2 Samuel 15:19-22 19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place. 20 In fact, you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today, since I go I know not where? Return, and take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” 22 So David said to Ittai, “Go, and cross over.” Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. Fridays with David In many ways it seems loyalty is fading from the vocabulary of modern life. People today chase personal benefit, moving from job to job, and even marriage to marriage in their pursuit of self-centered goals. Even when they are blessed with their current circumstances, a promise of more money or the hope of greater satisfaction lures them to risk the good things they’ve been given. In this story, Ittai could have sought his own benefit. Even David didn’t think he deserved the loyalty of this foreigner, but Ittai risked himself and his family in order to remain loyal to David. Given that David was hurting at the need to abandon his city, the man’s loyalty likely made a major difference for his king. In the same way, when we sacrifice to demonstrate loyalty to our leaders and our families, we give something that one can’t put a price tag on. To sacrifice one’s self in order to be loyal to those we love and admire demonstrates a mature heart and proves that we know what really matters most in life and will bring us the deepest satisfaction. – Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 00:12:11 +0000
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