September 30, 2024September 30, 2024

That all the earth may know

by in From The Desk of Pastor Gene
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That all the earth may know

The shepherd boy David, before becoming King of Israel, as detailed in 1 Samuel 17:45-47 (read below), realized that He had a greater purpose than to kill Goliath and defeat the Philistines. In the same way, we must understand that we have a greater purpose, and our lives have a greater meaning than our careers, our goals, our families, our possessions, and certainly what we do for our fun and relaxation.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin ,but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a Godin Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hand.”

Did you notice the purpose?  If not, here it is. That all the earth may know. . . The word “know” in Hebrew is “yada.”  It means to know experientially. It is not simply knowledge but living out the truth of God’s word. As James states in James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” This should make us sit up and take notice. Notice what? Notice we can know the story but never live out the story and if that’s the case we don’t really “yada.” God wants us to “yada” Him and step into His story so that all the earth may “yada” there is a God, the Lord saves, and the battle is the Lord’s.

Key points …

  1. It is God’s story, not David’s, and not ours. Our life and our purpose is to step into God’s story.
  2. We can step into God’s story with confidence because the Lord saves, and the battle is the Lord’s.
  3. The battle belongs to the Lord.
  4. We can choose to step into God’s story or not.
  5. David picked up the rock as his part in God’s story

What is your rock?  Will you choose to pick it up? Will you step into God’s story?

Your participation in God’s story must be for the purpose that the earth may know that there is a God, the Lord saves, and the battle is the Lord’s. It is more than simply knowing a Bible story but living God’s story.

In loving God, obeying God, worshiping God, serving God, or giving back to God, the focus is that all the earth may “yada” God.

I don’t know what you have in your arsenal, but David learned how to fling a rock to protect his sheep from wolves and the like. He was too small for the typical warrior garb and the sword was inadequate for close in combat against such a large man with a long sword. Did that stop David? Of course not. He stepped into God’s story with what He had and what He knew with a purpose–that all the earth may “yada.” What about you?  Will you step into God’s story with what you have and what you know so that all the earth may “yada” there is a God, the Lord saves, and the battle is the Lord’s?

A Work in Progress,

Pastor Gene