Scripture

Our verse for today comes from 2 Samuel 18:10, ” Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, ‘I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree.’ “

Background

I have rolled only one person’s yard. I don’t remember who it was or the reason we did it, but late one night a group of us high schoolers landed at this person’s house and quietly unloaded from our cars. Armed with rolls and rolls of toilet paper, we proceeded to fill their trees and cover their bushes, turning all that was green into a fluffy, two-ply white. Conversely, only once did a group of pranksters attempt to decorate my yard in similar fashion. I, somehow, had an inkling of an idea that the job was going down, and so I was home that night, keeping a casual watch for any suspicious visitors. Sure enough, later that evening they came driving up. Fortunately, I was able to convince them of my dad’s impending wrath should he awake to find our yard wrapped like King Tut, and they called off their attack. I’m sure you’ve driven by a house that’s just been ” TP’ed ” the night before. The shock of observing streaming toilet paper draped entirely around the yard and hanging from the trees probably gives way quickly to sympathy for the ones who have to endeavor to clean it up. It’s not a pretty sight, and it’s certainly not normal. More startling, though, would be to ride up on someone who was suspended from a tree for no apparent reason. Especially if this sight presented to you a delicate dilemma.

Application

David’s soldier discovered Absalom hanging there helpless. Absalom was David’s wayward son, beloved by his father, but a traitor to the throne. He was also hated by David’s general Joab. David’s soldier knew, as did Joab, that the king had ordered all to deal gently with Absalom. Yet, where the soldier obeyed, Joab did not. The soldier, struck with the sight and emotion of discovering Absalom, submitted to his king. Joab, granted the time to consider his feelings, nonetheless pressed onward to slay the defenseless enemy. You will encounter something hanging from a tree, something perhaps startling, or something quite normal. And as the enemy uses his guile and your desires to lure you, to whom will you submit?

Charge

As we seek Him today, let the temptations that hang around you compel you to turn back to the One who saves you.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words