Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 25:36, Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light.
Nabal is an interesting character. When we observe his foolishness, it serves as a warning to both the Christian and the unsaved person. He was man who gathered wealth, was selfish, proud, and had not one thought for the wellbeing of others. He had no inclination for helping those in need, as evident by his reaction and response to David. Here we find him partying like a king. Yet, he eats, drinks, and carries on merrily; not knowing that he was in danger of losing all he has by way of his own death. Although Abigail interceded on his behalf, he was completely ignorant of the fact that God used her to stop David from killing him and all his servants. In spite of that, he did not escape God’s judgment. The Christian who insists on seeking the world does not truly understand the loss that comes with making the world a priority in his or her life. As God’s children, when we make ourselves a friend of the world, we make ourselves the enemies of God. James 4:4-5 states it clearly, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?” Yet, how often do we put careers, the pursuit of riches, social status, people, and even hobbies, before God and our service to Him? All that we seek to gain here is dung in comparison to the riches God wants to reward us with when we finally stand before Him on that day of judgment when our works will be tested (1 Corinthians 3:9-15). Sadly, even as born again believers we place more attention on the “here and now” with little thought of what that equates to in loss of eternal reward. On the other hand, we have the unsaved person. The one who thinks that he will somehow live forever, and that his wealth and status will be his savior. Some will give away some of their wealth in hopes that enough good deeds will earn them favor with God. There is the other who says, “Let us party and be merry, and when we die we’ll all party in hell!” Well, I have a bit of bad news for those who think this way. Hell is not a “party place”; it is a place of suffering. Jesus described it this way in Matthew 41-42, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The tragedy of this is that hell was not meant for us, but for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Man sends himself there when he or she rejects Jesus and the Gospel message. Jesus made it clear in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In Luke 12 Jesus told the parable of the rich fool who gathered and stored wealth, not know that tomorrow would be the end. In verses 20 and 21 He said, “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 ‘So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’” Do any of us know about tomorrow and what it will bring? No, we do not know. The only One who knows is God. For the one who does not know Jesus, who has not yet put his or her faith in Him and called upon Him for eternal life, the day to call on Him is today; the time is now. For us, the child of God, the born again believer, we must have the mindset and lifestyle described in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” In other words, in Christ the world has no value to us, other than the souls we can bring to the Lord, and the world should have no use for us, in that we live in opposition to all it stands for, all for the glory of God in Christ Jesus, from whom we will receive the greatest of rewards (Romans 2:6; 1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians 6:9). We must not wait until tomorrow to either call upon Him for eternal life or to surrender our lives to serve Him, because none of us know about tomorrow and whether we will be here to see it.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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