2 Samuel 23:15-17
15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.
17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
Would we go headlong through the camp of the enemy just to get some water out of the well to bring it back to our king? Would we put our life on the line for such a task? The answer is simple. It depends on how dedicated we are. I would say this kind of dedication is rare but according to this story it does exist.
Something very similar in content took place in Genesis 22 when God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac to a place he would be shown and sacrifice him there. (Genesis 22:1-14) Would we do that? Probably not, but Abraham did. He intended to fully obey God when he took Isaac up that mountain. This test showed to Abraham just how dedicated he was to his God. That was the purpose of the test.
Let us consider something from these stories that should cause us to think about where we are in our dedication. These three mighty men followed a king that followed God. Their faith was anchored in a God that can do the impossible. Their trust in God exceeded their fear of the possible consequences. It did not seem trivial to them to serve a cause that was greater than they were, no matter what was asked of them. Abraham knew that God was always righteous and holy and if he asked something that was very hard to do, he still knew that God would never ask anything that was not right.
All these men trusted that God is God. He is worthy to be praised. He is worthy to be obeyed. He is worthy to be shown our full dedication. We will probably not be asked to get water from the well behind enemy lines or take our son up the mountain of sacrifice. But are we dedicated enough to say yes when God calls? Our response will tell the tale.
In Christ's Service,
Bro. Adrian Moore
2 Cor. 4:5
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