The Great Divide - Day 146 Through the Bible

Realities...Memorials...Perceptions - Historic District of Savannah, GA, about 5 1/2 hours from Mt. Celo Church

My Lessons From Today's Readings

Final Acts of David (1 Kings 1 and 2) As David lies on his death bed, another son, Adonijah - the brother of would-be-usurper, Absalom - assumes the kingdom rule of Judah and Israel...without David's knowledge...aided by David's long-time commander Joab and Abiathar, the priest.  A key commentary in David's role as a father, "...and his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, 'Why have you done so?"'  Nathan the prophet, Beneniah, the mighty men of David and Solomon are not invited to take part in Adonijah's self-coronation.  Nathan and Bathsheba intercede on behalf of Solomon, reminding David that the throne was promised to Solomon.  David makes this his final act, passing the crown and final directives to Solomon to remove the blood curse from the House of David caused by Joab, render punishment to  Shimei for the cursing of exiled King David, and bless the house of Barzillai for providing for the exiled David.  Solomon honors his father's wishes in each of these directives. Adonijah meets a similar doom and death as his brother, Absalom.  So the reign of the wisest man to ever live begins.

Eyes Opened / Outcast From the Synagogue - (John 9) Jesus heals the man blind from birth...on the Sabbath.  The Jewish leaders do all they can to make the man and his parents deny Jesus' power. "Give God the glory!  We know this Man is a sinner." As Charles Stanley points out in his commentary, "Religious speech often cloaks the darkest of hearts.  These leaders wanted the man to speak a vicious lie about God's Son - something that, far from honoring God, would anger and offend Him."  Not only does the man refuse to blaspheme Christ, he turns the Pharisees words on their own heads.  "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet, He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing....and they cast him out."

My Lessons and Applications:  This is the choice we must all make at some point in our lives - speaking the truth when we know the consequences will be severe for doing so...at least short term or temporally.  David made the mistake of not speaking against his traitorous sons, of not rebuking them.  He either sought to ingratiate himself to them, or was so uninvolved in their lives, apathetic...blinded....to their sins that they were allowed to cause disaster to the nation.  Absalom's rebellion and subsequent battle against David caused 70,000 Israeli deaths.  God interceded through his prophet, Nathan, to avert a similar loss because of Adonijah.  In John 9 the Pharisees could not see the truth of Jesus, in spite of, because of all their religious trappings.  The man blind from birth had his physical and spiritual eyes opened by and to the truth of Jesus.  This truth, acknowledged by him, resulted in his being cast out from those who could see, but could not believe.    Do I speak out of my faith, my love and gratitude to God?  Am I willing to bear the consequences of doing this in a world that still says it sees but does not believe? This is the Great Divide.

The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world…In dealing with other people, the line to take is to push them to an issue of will. That is the way abandonment begins. Every now and again, not often, but sometimes, God brings us to a point of climax. That is the Great Divide in the life; from that point we either go towards a more and more dilatory and useless type of Christian life, or we become more and more ablaze for the glory of God – Our Utmost for His Highest

-Oswald Chambers