Discretion

PILOTS

To: All Believers, Christians of all denominations, Church workers, Church leaders, Preachers, Pastors, Youth leaders, Church group leaders, Camp Organizers and to all Christians who are serving the Kingdom of God in any capacity (small or big).

We all have a great responsibility!

2 SAMUEL 10:2”Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites”

My teaching is based on the above scripture which is very crucial, sometimes difficulties are compounded in our life because of that ‘one unwise decision’ that we had taken, anybody listening? All of us have personal kinks to work out, and we all make mistakes, who does not err, you may ask; however, some mistakes have serious repercussions which cannot be undone. This is not serious Bible study; however, we all have precious lessons though, to learn through this chapter, let us see.

A. DAVID SHOWS KINDNESS TO SAUL’S FAMILY DESPITE BEING TREATED HORRIBLY:

Chapter 9 opens like this: 2 Samuel 9:1”Then David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" The magnanimity and kind heart of David in showing love to Mephibosheth, the grandson of his enemy Saul is mind-boggling, David said, "Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly." Observe this: ‘at my table regularly’, feeding the enemy from far is one thing but making him sit at his own table all the days of his life and completely transforming his status is something incredible, such is the kind heart of David. We must always remember, we are not reading history or geography but the Word of God, so it is bound to dig deep into the crevices of our heart to find if we have any bitterness in our heart towards people who have wronged us. I shared this word with my family during our early morning prayer and also allowed the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from all hurts and pain, check out yours too!

B. DAVID’S DECISION TO SHOW KINDNESS TO HANUN, WHO IS AN AMMONITE:

As we bask in this ‘kindness’ and stroll into the next chapter, here we read about David showing kindness to his enemy the Ammonite, now wait a minute, did not Jesus tell us to love our enemy and also pray for our persecutors? Yes, He did, but Jesus never told us to be unwise, in fact, Jesus said: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”(Mathew 10:16) Anybody listening?

David sent a friendly embassy to Hanun king of the Ammonites, He showed kindness to me, says David (v. 2), so David wanted to reciprocate, having enjoyed satisfaction from showing love to the family of Saul, David was doing a repetition. Danger! Caveat! We need discretion for every decision that we take, we cannot do a repetition just because we felt good about it the previous time, anybody listening? Let me show you who this Nahash is, he was a cruel enemy of Israel who said, 1 Samuel 11: 2 “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.” Look what happened because of this mistake, the servants who obeyed David by entering into the enemy territory were humiliated, “shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away.” It may sound a ‘simple act of kindness’ but look at the serious impact it has created, there was also a battle because of this. We could have avoided many of the troubles in our life, if only we had acted cautiously and not presumptuously!

C. Crown comes with responsibility!

Now let us draw personal applications in our life through the above Bible portion. The splendor of a king is just not in his crown alone, that crown comes with responsibility! Anybody listening? Whatever may be the leadership role that you are holding today, even if it is the head of a family as a father – everything has great responsibility on your shoulder. Are you hearing me?

While pilots are rarely seen by the passengers, every passenger appreciates a pilot who handles and manages the plane well. The pilot, also called “Captain”, is responsible for everything that occurs on the ground, during the flight, and until it is safely parked again. A pilot's initial responsibility is to check the weather throughout the flight path and confirm flight schedules. Pilots are also responsible for running a comprehensive preflight checklist of all systems, including fuel, engines, hydraulics and electronics. Even before the flight begins, Pilots typically report to work an hour before departure in order to meet with flight crew and review weather and airport conditions. The captain then goes through a series of safety checklists of switches and instruments in the cockpit with the first officer (co-pilot). Every instrument is checked and double-checked. In addition, the captain communicates with the air traffic controller and the ground crew in preparation for takeoff. Observe this: During takeoff, landing, and during the flight, the pilots continue to communicate with one another as well as with the air traffic controllers, his eyes, ears and entire concentration has to be on his job.