Young David arrived at the camp of the Israeli army ready to see a fight. What he saw instead was a fiasco. David saw a Philistine named Goliath standing on the battlefield hurling insults at the Hebrew soldiers and their God. Worse still, the blasphemous insults went unchallenged.
Every ounce of Jewish pride rose up within the young shepherd boy destined to be king. As David gathered information in preparation to fight the giant himself, Eliab pulled him aside and dressed him down as only a big brother can do.
Finally, David had heard enough. I’m sure he loved his brother. But David realized that Eliab was among the many for whom there isn’t anything worth living and dying for. David was made of different stuff. He looked his brother in the eye and asked this rhetorical question, “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29). Out of the entire army of Israel that day, David was the only person that believed in the cause.
Like Eliab, there are many people moving through life without a cause. This is the “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” crowd (Ecc. 1:2). For them there is nothing worth believing in. Nothing worth living for. Nothing worth fighting for. Certainly nothing worth dying for.
Trivial pursuit might be a fun game to play, but it’s a terrible way to live. The question of David echoes down through the centuries, “Is there not a cause?” Selah. Think about it.
A little more than one-thousand years after he fought Goliath, David’s most prominent descendant stood before Pontius Pilate. Knowing He was just hours from the cross, Jesus told the Roman Governor, “For this cause I was born” (John 18:37).
As David ran to the battle (1 Samuel 17:48), Jesus steadfastly and resolutely made His way to Jerusalem where He would be crucified (Luke 9:51). Nothing could stop Him! Jesus considered the battle worth fighting. And like His Old Testament predecessor, Jesus fought and won (Colossians 2:14-15). David fought and won for Israel. Jesus fought and won for the world!
David asked, “Is there not a cause?” Jesus answered, “For this cause I was born.” God did not create us to drift aimlessly through life like a band of dreamless wanderers. He did not breathe the breath of life into us so we could spend our days pursuing vain and empty things that in light of eternity matter not.
God put us on this planet to live for His glory. He created us to know Him and make Him known. So take hold of that for which Jesus has taken hold of you (Philippians 3:12), and remind yourself each day that you were born for this cause…for His cause.
Pastor Todd Weston
Every ounce of Jewish pride rose up within the young shepherd boy destined to be king. As David gathered information in preparation to fight the giant himself, Eliab pulled him aside and dressed him down as only a big brother can do.
Finally, David had heard enough. I’m sure he loved his brother. But David realized that Eliab was among the many for whom there isn’t anything worth living and dying for. David was made of different stuff. He looked his brother in the eye and asked this rhetorical question, “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29). Out of the entire army of Israel that day, David was the only person that believed in the cause.
Like Eliab, there are many people moving through life without a cause. This is the “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” crowd (Ecc. 1:2). For them there is nothing worth believing in. Nothing worth living for. Nothing worth fighting for. Certainly nothing worth dying for.
Trivial pursuit might be a fun game to play, but it’s a terrible way to live. The question of David echoes down through the centuries, “Is there not a cause?” Selah. Think about it.
A little more than one-thousand years after he fought Goliath, David’s most prominent descendant stood before Pontius Pilate. Knowing He was just hours from the cross, Jesus told the Roman Governor, “For this cause I was born” (John 18:37).
As David ran to the battle (1 Samuel 17:48), Jesus steadfastly and resolutely made His way to Jerusalem where He would be crucified (Luke 9:51). Nothing could stop Him! Jesus considered the battle worth fighting. And like His Old Testament predecessor, Jesus fought and won (Colossians 2:14-15). David fought and won for Israel. Jesus fought and won for the world!
David asked, “Is there not a cause?” Jesus answered, “For this cause I was born.” God did not create us to drift aimlessly through life like a band of dreamless wanderers. He did not breathe the breath of life into us so we could spend our days pursuing vain and empty things that in light of eternity matter not.
God put us on this planet to live for His glory. He created us to know Him and make Him known. So take hold of that for which Jesus has taken hold of you (Philippians 3:12), and remind yourself each day that you were born for this cause…for His cause.
Pastor Todd Weston
