Devotional Thoughts for our Day:
so David inquired of God, “Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?”
The LORD replied, “Go, and I will hand them over to you.”
11 So the Israelites went up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, “Like a bursting flood, God has used me to burst out against my enemies.” Therefore, they named that place the Lord Bursts Out. 12 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David ordered that they be burned in the fire.   1 Chronicles 14:10-12  HCSB

The Lord has shaken you; he has done it without anesthesia, like he did to Abraham, asking him to give up his son, his dreams, his projects.He tested him without explanation, introducing him to the school of detachment to be truly a free man and completely available to the projects of God who was planning to make him a collaborator in the great history of salvation

If you must be heard, let it be like the babbling brook,
laughing over the rocks.
If you must be seen, let it be like sunlight
giving warmth and comfort to all.
If you must be acknowledged, let it be as the eyes
behold the skies in all their glory.
If you must lead, let it be like the wind and all its unshackled direction.
If you must learn, let it be like breathing, the natural flow of in and out, and done without thinking.

I love the naive thoughts in the last of the quotes from my devotional reading this morning.  I say naive because I know that the only way to accomplish such communication and leadership  You have to be naive, you have to be blessed with a simpleness, that simply does things naturally.

Like Abraham sacrificing Issac, you have to be freed from the things that keep us from living in the freedom we need to be naive, to simply rely on God, detached from all that would possibly separate us from God.

To separate us from our idols, including the idolatry of our dreams, our plans our visions.

Which is something hard to give up, these visions and plans we carefully set up, after careful study, deliberation, and even prayer.  (Most churches go through this regularly, trying to craft vision stations, mission statements, delineating core values in a precise and pragmatic way)  But what if we have to sacrifice this on the altar, what if we have to realize that while we think we know God’s plan, we may not?

Will we do so as willingly as Abraham did?

Or will we need someone like David for us?

It may seem overlooked in the tremendous victory David had over the Philistines, but there is a more incredible victory that blesses the Philistines more than it blesses the Israelites.

It’s there in verse 12, that because of God working through David, God delivered the Philistines from their idols.  In fact, the victory was so complete, they walked away from their idols. They were freed from them, and the emptiness they offered. The Philistines were freed from the brokenness, and though they had other issues to deal with, they weren’t bound to worshipping the dreams, the desires that these idols represented.

While I would wish my relationship with God was so strong, that my faith was so strong I could do what Abraham did, I am not that strong, I am not that devoted, I am not that willing to sacrifice my idols.  So I need to pray that God sends a David to bless me, to win the victory for me that only one I count as my adversary could win.

In reality, isn’t this what Jesus did?  While we were His enemies, He died for us, freeing us from our idols, freeing us from our self-centered idolatry.   And as we are freed, then the Holy Spirit works in us the kind of selflessness that some would count as naivete, the selflessness that is so blessed.  He won the victory against our sin and idolatry but won the victory for us.  Just as David did.

Lord Jesus, free us from our idolatry, as David freed the Philistines from their idols.  (and if necessary, use our adversaries to bless us in this way!)  Help us to be like your Son, our Lord Jesus, who was able to love selflessly, and naturally love, show mercy and care for those around Him.  AMEN!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Are you willing to be delivered from that which you depend on more than you depend on God?  Do you even know what your idols are?

Pope Francis. A Year with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections from His Writings. Ed. Alberto Rossa. New York; Mahwah, NJ; Toronto, ON: Paulist Press; Novalis, 2013. Print.
https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/meditations/meditation-day-20/