Scripture

Our verse for today comes from 2 Samuel 19:6, ” For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. “

Background

In the movie Shenandoah , James Stewart plays Charlie Anderson, the widowed father of six sons and a daughter, who works his Virginia farm during the Civil War. Even though several of Charlie’s sons want to join the war, he refuses to allow them to get involved until he feels that the war concerns them. While out hunting, Charlie’s youngest son discovers a rebel cap at the river and puts it on. When a union patrol comes upon him, he is mistaken to be a rebel soldier and taken as a prisoner of war. When Charlie learns of his son’s capture, he then decides that the war concerns him, and he and his family load up to recover his son, leaving behind only his son and daughter-in-law and their new baby. The search for Boy, as he is called, leads first to the recovery of Charlie’s newest son-in-law, Sam, who instructs his soldiers one last time and then leaves with his bride and family. When the family comes upon a Confederate patrol, a startled soldier fires at them, killing Charlie’s oldest son. In a rage, Charlie grabs the young soldier to kill him, but then chooses to spare him to live with this awful memory for the rest of his life. Boy is eventually shot in the leg, but he is spared death by a Union soldier who turns out to be his best friend who was hunting with him that fateful afternoon. Charlie and the family return home, saddened and weary at the loss of two sons, only to find out that army scavengers have raided his home and killed his son and daughter-in-law, leaving the baby yet alive.

Application

Charlie seeks solace at the graveside of his wife, only to hear the church bells ring, awakening him to the fact that it was Sunday. Quickly he gathers his family and heads to church. As the pastor announces the next hymn, in through the doors hobbles Boy, reunited at last with his father and family. Charlie would have traded an entire army for a son. You and I probably would have, too. But what are you trading now that’s returning far less than what you’re giving up? What are you losing to gain what you’re getting?

Charge

As we seek Him today, take yourself and your family on the search for God and what He offers. Consider what’s at stake when a situation presents you with an offer.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words