To Encourage You

1 Samuel 30:11-15 “They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. And David said to him, ‘To whom do you belong? And where are you from?’ He said, ‘I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.’ And David said to him, ‘Will you take me down to this band?’ And he said, ‘Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.’”

In the account above we have an interesting parallel of a spiritual reality, i.e., the process of how a person turns from serving one spiritual master to another.  Here we have the account of an Egyptian who had been serving the king of the Amalekites as he wreaked havoc on the people of God. But then he became sick and his master left him behind to die.  But it is then, in his great need and near death, that David happens upon him.  And so David meets his physical needs, restoring him to health, and asks him to turn and serve him as he makes war with the wicked king whom the Egyptian had previously served.   The Egyptians agrees to serve David if David will pledge to save his life. And so, it is with anyone who repents from serving the kingdom of Satan and enters the service of God’s dearly beloved Son.

First, it happens individually, one soul at a time, one by one, little by little, for that’s how God’s kingdom grows. It’s not typical for a whole nation to turn to God, or a whole group of people. Rather, it is as one turns from the crowd he or she is a part of to make a personal decision to serve a new King.

But how does this happen? What would cause a person to turn? Well, like the Egyptian, it is when that person comes to recognize their great need.  The Egyptian found himself sick, hungry, thirsty, and weak. Otherwise, he would have just kept serving with the Amalekites. Likewise, Jesus told the Pharisees who saw themselves as spiritually healthy although, in reality, they were serving the devil, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). 

And then, as the Egyptian pledged allegiance to David and entered battle against his former master, so a sinner must turn from serving his previous master to serve the King of kings.  And what is the benefit? Spiritual healing, spiritual nourishment, and eternal spiritual life!  The Egyptian received these blessings in a physical sense, but it is but a metaphor for the much greater spiritual benefits that Christ offers to all who will follow Him.   

So, whom are you serving today? Are you in the service of a master with a crowd that, like a herd of lemmings, is headed for spiritual death, or do you realize your spiritual sickness? Are you in a place of spiritual need? If so, know that a new master may have so ordained that you be there so that you would reach out to Him and thereby be healed. But you’ll need to do this personally. Don’t wait for the crowd that you’re in. It’s very likely that they won’t want to join you.  The question is not whether your friends will go with you to serve this new Master.  The question is, will you?