To Encourage You

2 Samuel 19:7-8 “’Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.’ Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate.”

Throughout history there have been great turning points in which things could have gone one way or the other depending on various choices, actions, and events. There are a number of examples from World War II in which, Hitler, if he had chosen a different path, may have actually won the war. The HistoryNet website describes one of Hitler’s greatest blunders in this way: “Hitler, upon hearing news of Pearl Harbor, left his Prussian headquarters—where he had gone to personally deal with the Russian winter offensive—and rushed to Berlin. On December 11, he went before the Reichstag to declare war on the United States. It was an act of suicidal hubris. Although Germany was already locked in a war against Great Britain and the Soviet Union, Hitler, when presented with the opportunity to declare war against a nation capable of producing as many munitions in one year as Germany could in five, did not hesitate or flinch. It was not his first serious blunder, nor his last. It was, however, his most colossal.”

History is filled with such examples.  In the passage above from 2 Samuel 19 we have an Old Testament example from the history of the nation of Israel. It’s from the time Immediately after David’s army had put down his son Absalom’s revolt.  Although David’s men were victorious in this civil war, David was devastated because Absalom had been killed.  As a result, David went into a time of great mourning and his army, who had expected to be praised for their victory, ended up acting “as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle” (2 Samuel 19:3).  Joab saw the moment for what it was, a great turning point in David’s reign. Thus, his warning to David in the passage above.  He tells David that he must either arise and go out and speak kindly to his servants or fail to do so and lose all their support.  And David’s choice?  He arose. 

What a wonderful type this is of the most monumental turning point in the history of the world. It involved not David, but the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He, too, was involved in a great battle. It was a battle against the enemy of our souls.  In this horrific struggle, Jesus lost His own life.  It was devastating to His followers, and they all forsook Him and hid themselves away in shame and fear.  If that had been the end of the story, things would have been so different than they are today.  Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19: “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 

But you know what? Wonderfully, He DID arise, and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven!  And because of this He has promised us that “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14: 18-19). The King of kings said of Himself, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Which brings each and every one of us to another great turning point that will make all the difference in our life.  For although history tells us clearly that Jesus did arise, Jesus asks each and every one of us, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).  If we do, the Bible tells each of us that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9-13).  

So, do YOU believe this?  Have you yet called on the Lord to be saved?  You see, the decision you make on this one matter will mean all the difference in your life.  Either your eternity will be filled with misery and loss, or you, like Christ, will rise to eternal life.  What will your decision be?  Your eternal destiny awaits the most important decision you will ever make. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e36sc4urEO4)