Psalms 31:24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord.
When Jim Burke became the head of a new products division at Johnson & Johnson, one of his first projects was the development of a children’s chest rub. The product failed miserably, and Burke expected that he would be fired. When he was called in to see the chairman of the board, however, he met a surprising reception. “Are you the one who just cost us all that money?” asked Robert Wood Johnson. “Well I just want to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, that means you are taking risks, and we won’t grow unless you take risks!” Apparently, Mr. Johnson wasn’t joking! Years later, Johnson & Johnson remains one of the largest multi-national manufacturers of pharmaceutical, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, personal hygiene, baby and biotechnology products.
Likewise, we believers are called to take some risks so that God’s Kingdom may grow! So often, we cower at the opportunities He makes available because we are too afraid things won’t go the way hope and others might be disappointed or sneer at our failure. But God wants us to go forth boldly, sometimes taking a risk or two, so that we may accomplish great things for Him! Yes, sometimes we’ll get it wrong and there may be a hard lesson to learn. But we will learn– and eventually great things will happen as result of our courage and persistence!
The time is short and there is so much work to do for the Kingdom! We cannot afford to stand in the sidelines any longer! Let’s ask the Lord to cause to us have courage and go in boldness! God’s Kingdom won’t grow unless we start taking some risks!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As we continue our study of the men who followed David, let’s look at their boldness — the boldness of lions! We also need this boldness in the face of the enemy who is “like a lion”, himself….a roaring lion.
As we continue our study of the Mighty Men of David, another quality is worth pointing out — they were not procrastinators. Notice that these men decided to cross the Jordan river when it was at flood stage! They didn’t wait till the river receded, but rather, boldly crossed when it was the most dangerous!
As David grew in stature those who stood by him increased in number, devoting themselves to fight with him. Though it was a time of adversity for David, and a time of warfare, he found that there were many willing to join their lives to his; "...a brother is born for adversity"; and "there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother". Again we note that David's anointing and his character made him a friend to many...and many became his loyal friends.
A program by National Geographic gives a powerful illustration for us. In the great annual wildebeest migration in Serengeti National Park in Africa a giant herd, thousands of wildebeest, slowly move in groups across the plain. They are invariably followed by stalking lions. But the lions never attack the herd – they simply watch carefully for the stray wildebeest, either careless or seeking greener grass, who separates himself from the larger groups of animals. The isolated wildebeest will become the sudden prey of the lions who attack with lightening speed and ferocity.
50,000 soldiers from the tribe of Zebulun served in David’s army with UNDIVIDED (some translations: “not double-hearted”) hearts. Can you imagine a skilled army with this level of loyalty and devotion?
The mighty men that followed David were of one mind and heart to make him King. Their recognition of David’s anointing may have been the most significant quality of these Mighty Men. What was it in David that drew out this deep loyalty? I believe it was God’s Holy Spirit which David received when Samuel anointed him king.[1 Samuel 16:13].
In the 1970s when the Alaskan Pipeline was being constructed many Texans went to Alaska to work on the pipeline alongside the Eskimos, native Alaskans. However the Texans could only work a few hours in the frigid weather, while the Eskimos could easily work for hours on end.