Day 150 Bible Readings - 1 Samuel 27: 1 (ESV)

1 Samuel 26-28, John 19: 1-27, Psalm 81: 1-8

1 Samuel 27: 1 (ESV)

“Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”

Verse 1 from 1 Samuel 27 made me feel for David. This verse tells us David was in despair. Saul kept wanting to kill him and in his heart, the heart that God knew, was tired of trusting God. I can totally relate to how David was feeling. When I’ve been very depressed in despair, I often wondered if God had forgotten about me or if I did something wrong. Or worse, maybe God didn’t even exist and I had been wrong and fooled all these years. Like David, I had forgotten how God had always rescued me when I was in dire straits.

Many Christians calls this backsliding, where we doubt God and our faith in him. If we remember that David, who was anointed and so favored by God, also suffered from backsliding then we can also know that sometimes this event happens even to everyone. But if you know the Bible, you know David turned himself around and became King. David’s redemption gives us hope that we will be able to turn ourselves around as well, and recover our faith and once again serve God.

Day 149 Bible Readings - 1 Samuel 24: 5-7 (ESV)

1 Samuel 24 & 25, John 18: 25-40, Psalm 81: 8-16

1 Samuel 24: 5-7 (ESV)

“And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.”

Verses 5 through 7 from 1 Samuel 24 resonated with me today. Samuel said that God had chosen David because he knew his heart, and these verses prove it. David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but he did not. He didn’t have the heart to kill someone whom God had anointed, even though Saul wanted him dead.

I don’t know if I could have stopped myself from killing someone who wanted to kill me, if I knew that God had favored them. I’ve never been in that situation. I have a hard time right now forgiving friends and family who aren’t awake and don’t vote the same way I do. My life is not threatened in anyway, but I’m having a hard time forgiving people who don’t think the same way politically that I do. I pray to God every day to help me have forgiveness in my heart for people who don’t vote the same way I do. But God knows I’m a work in progress on this issue, so when I read what David was able to do I was in awe. David truly deserved to be chosen by God as king for the goodness of his heart.

Day 148 Bible Readings - John 18: 8-9 (ESV)

1 Samuel 21-23, John 18: 1-24, Psalm 81: 1-7

John 18: 8-9 (ESV)

“Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”

Verses 8 through 9 from John 18 shows how much care Jesus had for his disciples. Christ didn’t fight his arrest. If Jesus did fight his arrest, harm would have come to his disciples which was unacceptable to him because he promised God that would take care of the people who come to believe in him. One Bible commentary noted that Jesus at this point self-sacrificed himself to the guards. Christ willingly surrendered himself to the guards and asked that no harm come to his followers.

These verses remind that Jesus will always protest those whom he loves. If Jesus was willing to protect his disciples, we can be assured that Jesus will protect us as his followers. Jesus gave up his life and took on the sins of the world. He became the sacrificial lamb so we would be free of sin.

Day 147 Bible Reading - John 17: 20-24 (ESV)

1 Samuel 19 & 20, John 17, Psalm 80: 8-19

John 17: 20-24 (ESV)

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Verses 20 through 24 from John 17 are part of Jesus’ prayers before his arrest. Jesus prayed for himself, his disciples, and in in these verses he prayed for his future followers who believe in him through the words of the disciples. In other words, future follower of Christ which is us. I love that Jesus was able to see the future even as he was facing what would be an incredible painful part of his life in his crucifixion. He loved us so much even though he would never meet us. Christ asked for the same blessing for us that he asked for the followers that he did know for three years.

Sometimes when I watch “The Chosen” tv series, I am in awe of the disciples who knew Christ, spoke to him, laughed with him, and cried with him. I wonder if they knew at the time how lucky they were to have known Christ, and what would become of the teachings of Christ. I wonder if they could see into the future and see that over a billion people in 2024 or 1/7^th of the world’s population would be followers of Christ. I think Jesus knew and prayed for his future followers in this prayer.