1 Samuel – Chapter 31

1 Samuel 31 Daily DEVO Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 1 Samuel 31:4 – Such a sad story to end a book on, but there is something here I’d love for us to take away from it. Even in your darkest hour, when all hope seems lost, you can continue to lean on and trust in God because He will never leave you. For Saul, his situation was very grim, and he made the choice to handle things himself. Yet even in that moment Saul could have still humbly turned to God and so can you in your moments of great distress. Often we can get ourselves into some rather large messes, or those messes just find us. Either way know that God isn’t too far from you to turn to and ask for help. Today, take away from this sad chapter in Saul’s life that your story doesn’t have to end like his. Your life doesn’t have to be controlled and protected by your hands alone. There is a God who loves you immensely and is greater than you can imagine that wants to fight for you and give you the shelter you’ve long awaited for. All it takes is you turning from the direction you have been going and choosing to follow after Him instead with your whole life. While this is a big commitment from you, you want the commitment that God’s going to give you in your life because of it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 431

And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 1 Samuel 31:5 – How we handle our troubling times will teach others how to handle their own troubling times. King Saul choose to kill himself when faced with the bleak situation he was in. What do we see happen next? One of King Saul’s men chooses to kill himself too, just like the king did. Are you aware people are watching how you handle your struggles? Are you aware some will mirror how you handle your struggle when their own struggles come up? If you respond in anger, so will they. If you respond with self harm, so will they. If you respond with leaning deeply into Jesus, so will they. So first check yourself on what is your response to troubling times in your story. Then ask yourself who is watching how you respond and if they did exactly as you did would they be drawing closer to Jesus? Sometimes the best witness can be made without even saying a word. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1656

So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 1 Samuel 31:9 – As we close out the book, we also put a close to King Saul’s life. Saul and all his sons died in this battle, and the enemy was thrilled at that fact. So much so that they sent messengers all throughout their land proclaiming the good news to all people. The Hebrew word used here for good news is “basar,” and it is the equivalent to the Greek work “euangélion” where we get our word “Gospel.” Simply put, they shared their “gospel.” Victory had been won over their enemy and they made sure everyone in their land knew the good news. What we see here is humanity is designed to proclaim good news. When something marvelous happens in our story, or when we see something truly wonderful, we struggle to keep that message to ourselves. We long to share it to those we love and anyone that has ears that will listen. If then we would be willing to proclaim the good news that an enemy is defeated, or the good news that our team has won, or the good news that someone is healed, how much more should we be about the good news of the Gospel? For nothing compares with the goodness of the Gospel. Death is defeated, all sin is forgiven, Jesus is alive, and we can be too through Jesus. That’s really, really good news! Know then you are designed to share good news, be about sharing the greatest news there is that Jesus came, died, and rose again and now through Jesus a pathway to the Father and forgiveness is available. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2908