As I deal with 3-6 year olds everyday at school, God often teaches me lessons through them. Yesterday, I had to discipline one of the children because he was not treating the school materials properly. I gave him a long lecture about how children in other countries don't even get to have nice materials like we do because they can't afford to have such a nice school like ours. I'm not sure if he understood, so I told him that I will send all the toys and materials in our school to children who can appreciate them more in other countries if he mistreats them again. Then he apologized and walked away. As I was watching him walk away, a thought came through my mind. He doesn't really understand this because he grew up lacking nothing. He doesn't have to worry about the next meal he needs to eat. He doesn't have to worry about losing his parents to Aids epidemic. He doesn't have to hope to be picked for a sponsorship to go to school out of thousands of other kids in his village. He doesn't know how to be grateful because he doesn't know how privileged he is to be born in the states, into a nice family who can afford a nice private school that has plenty of materials and resources.
As I read this passage, I know David is not like my student. What struck me is the beginning of God's promise and the beginning of David's response. In verse 8, before God reveals all the wonderful promises, He starts off by reminding David that God chose David to lead His people when he was just a shepherd boy. Then after hearing the overwhelming promises of God, David responds by acknowledging God's grace. "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family that you have brought me this far?" That is a genuine response to God as he really understands how privileged he is.
Throughout David's prayer, I can sense how grateful David is and how he truly means when he praises God for His sovereignty. I look back at my life and think about how God has blessed me thus far. Like my student, I didn't have to face much hardships growing up that many other children face today in other side of the world. Though I didn't have control over my birth and the conditions that I grew up in because of God's sovereignty, I forget how privileged I am to have everything that I have and who I have become today. But I also learned that out of the chosen, God blesses those who respond to him with thankfulness and honor. In light of the passion week as well as the applications from this past Sunday's message, I want to be like king David and say, "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, that you have saved me by dying on the cross and have blessed me beyond what I deserve?"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
One thought that couldn't escape me as I was reflecting on this passage was how everything that God does is ultimately for his glory...
In this excerpt, God promised David that his son would be the one to build a "house for His Name" and that his kingdom would endure forever.
In verse 25b-26, David prays, "Do as you promised, so that Your name will be great forever."
There was a clear understanding on David's part that the purpose of God's promises was not necessarily to make "David's kingdom endure forever" but that through David's future kingdom, that God's fame would be declared to all..
After meditating on this particular point, I began to more fully understand/comprehend that the Destiny Campaign isn't about the building. All along, it has never been about a building.
But that through obtaining this building, ultimately, that God's name would be made known to our campus, to our city, and to the nations.
Post a Comment