Good Morning All,
1
Samuel 22:2; “And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt,
and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander
over them.”
As
I have told you before, I am a fan of movies.
The other day I was watching one of the Robin Hood movies and I tried to
figure out how many different versions that I had seen. There is the “real” one with Errol
Flynn. There was one with Sean Connery,
one with Kevin Costner, the newest one with Russell Crowe, Disney made two, one
animated and one with real actors and my favorite; “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” These are the ones I thought of, there are
probably others.
The basic premise was that a group of
people were suffering under a great injustice and eventually, a nobleman who lost
his estate became their leader. They “robbed
from the rich and gave to the poor.”
Eventually they are vindicated when the proper king returns and all is
right with the world. A wonderful little
tale and like many wonderful little tales; it would seem that it has its origin
in the Bible. The biblical story is
based on David. He, essentially, became
an outlaw as King Saul tried to kill him and kill anyone who helped David. Thus men who had been beaten or punished by
the king turned to David and he became their leader, their commander.
In many ways, these two stories, similar as
they are, are somewhat representative of our relationship with Jesus. You and I, as sinners, live under the rule of
a cruel ruler, the devil. The devil
wants you to live in distress. He wants
you to suffer the pain of sorrow and sadness.
He wants you to feel the worry of paying the bills tomorrow or facing
the doctor, alone, or trying to deal with the uncertainty of life. He wants you in debt, so you have more to
worry about. He tempts us with
tantalizing gadgets and things; that everyone else seems to have and we just “need”
in order to live. Yet above all, the
devil wants you to be bitter in soul. He
wants you to go through life feeling passed over, forgotten, unlovable,
leave-able; someone not worth worrying about or worth wanting.
Into this life, Jesus comes to claim those
whom the devil attacks. He is there to
comfort you in your distress. He is
there to give you hope beyond debt and above all; he is there to relieve the
bitterness in your soul. He is there to
take the bitterness of loneliness, and despondency and to restore you to
someone whom He completely loves. He
will never forget you, never find you unlovable, he will never leave you. You are always someone whom Jesus finds
worthy of wanting. He wants you to be
loved by Him and to live with him in eternal paradise. He will show you the way to live in harmony
with God. He has shown us the path to
eternal life. His love for us endures
forever, especially for the distressed, the indebted and those who are bitter
in soul.
Gracious
Lord, you came to bring us out of distress and to sweeten our bitter
souls. Continue to strengthen our faith
and to lead us to that life which you give us, one to prosper us. Be with those who feel the bitterness of
life. Show them your mercy. In your precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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