Live before You Die
1 Chronicles 11:22New Living Translation (NLT)
22 There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions[a] of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.
- Jeepers why would he do that? Why jump into a pit on a snowy day and kill a lion?
- What would make a man do that?
- Being one of David’s mighty men, it would seem a little irresponsible or reckless of him to do something like that when he had tasks that would have been needed to be done for David.
How does that look in today’s terms?
There was a ship sinking after hitting the northern pinnacle of the Aliwal Shoal. Conditions were very rough on the day, no fishermen had dared venture out to sea. Documents that had recorded the conditions of the sea on that day described that the waves breaking at the shoreline were around 15 feet. No wonder no one was going out in those conditions.
Crew were jumping into the sea and with conditions as they were, it was unlikely they would be able to reach shore safely.
However, my dad decided to do the equivalent of Benaiah, and launched his boat, with his fishing partner Clive, when no one else dared to. They rescued the 17 crew between them.
This act seemed irresponsible, maybe even reckless, to many as my dad had a very young family and if he were to die or be injured how could we survive?
- What made my dad confident to launch his boat when others wouldn’t?
- Why did my dad believe that although the conditions were dangerous, the odds were in his favour, just like Benaiah believed the odds were in his favour?
- Why, in the eyes of my dad and Benaiah, were they not being reckless or irresponsible?
Why not join us this Saturday at Men of Valour and discover that the destiny God has for you may look reckless and irresponsible to others but that the odds will favour you because you were designed to do just that!
Come on! Live before you die!