Verse of the Day 6/29

Through the Bible - Job 18-20, Acts 9:32-10:8

 

Good morning,

Our Pastor's current series' titlte is "Choose".  Each day along the path we make many choices.

 

Think of the things you choose to pick up to start the day before heading of to work school.  You pick up and put on your watch, pick up your wallet, car keys, and cell phones..  But do you carry one other important thing with you?  Do you have an idea what it is?

 

This weekend's message revolved around the story of David and Goliath.  It's where we'll go for today's verse.

1 Sam 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.   NIV

David was preparing to battle the giant Goliath.  He had tried on Saul's armor but it was not for him.  He chose to go with the tools that he was familiar with.

 

On Saturday I just finished reading a book by Eugene Peterson, "Five Smooth Stones", near the end of the book he writes, " and so I kneel at the brook of scripture, selecting there what God has long been preparing for the work at hand and find smooth stones.  The rough edges have been knocked off.  The soft parts have eroded away.  They are bare and hard.  Nothing superfluous.  Nothing decorative.  Clean and spare.  Scripture has that quality for me - of essentiality, of the necessary, I feel that I am, again, travelling light, delivered from the immense clutter."

 

Is God's Word essential for you to face the battles of the day or are you more comfortable picking up and wearing secular armor which can drag you down?

 

God's word may not seem significant to you.  But I"m sure for those watching the young sixteen year old David that morning could not have guessed how significant that the picking up of those stones would be later on that day.

 

As you head off for work, school or other responsibilities what will you pick up and bring with you?  Why not pick up God's Word.?  It can be in the form of a devotional or writing a verse on an index card or back of a business card that can help you to think about that verse at times during your day.  If you make picking up God's Word a consistent part of your day, you'll never know when it just might be the thing that you'll use to slay a giant fear or problem.

 

Do any other scripture verses or passages come to mind. perhaps Ephesians 6:10-18?  How about others?

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
1 Sam 17:34-51

 

34 But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!"

 

Saul finally consented. "All right, go ahead," he said. "And may the Lord be with you!"

 

38 Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.

 

"I can't go in these," he protested to Saul. "I'm not used to them." So David took them off again. 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.

 

41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 "Am I a dog," he roared at David, "that you come at me with a stick?" And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 "Come over here, and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!" Goliath yelled.

 

45 David replied to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us!"

 

48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

 

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.