2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 42

Week 42

I Samuel 14:24-30

“And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food. 25 Now when all the people[a] came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground.26 And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. 28 Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint. 29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

     I grew up in a time in which coaches thought that if an athlete wanted water during practice it was because they were lazy or weak. Consequently, water breaks were few and far between on those scorching hot August two-a-day workouts. We now know that in order to perform at your maximum potential you need to be hydrated before you even begin to workout. It is important to stay hydrated during workout and being hydrated helps your post-workout recovery too. The same could be said of nutrition as well. We simply know so much more now than we used to, or do we?

    In our story, Jonathan had begun fighting the Philistines because his father Saul was indecisive. Once the Philistines were in disarray Saul joined in the pursuit. The men were getting tired and rather than tending to their needs he instead put an oath on them that cursed anyone who ate before evening. Notice in verse 24 it appears that the battle was about Saul being avenged rather than the honor of the Lord. Jonathan was not around when his father made the rash vow because he was too busy fighting rather than laying around waiting for something to happen (see 14:2). Jonathan heard about the oath that his father had put on the people only after he had tasted some of the honey found in the forest. When Jonathan heard about his father’s oath he stated that the vow was a mistake. Jonathan knew that the people would have been much stronger had they eaten. He also knew that in their weakened condition they were unable to press the battle and gain a better victory that day.

     In our day to day battles with evil we can be unable to press the battle due to a lack of spiritual hydration and spiritual nourishment. Some are unable to fight at all because they have never had the spiritual water of Christ. They are perpetually thirsty and weak. Others have failed to gain spiritual nutrition by feasting on the Word of God. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Are you nourished spiritually? Are you spiritually hydrated so that you can press the battle and gain a greater victory? “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[a] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In Christ,

John