Tues.’s Devo - Reward of Being Faithful

Read: 1 Chronicles 11:1-12:18; Acts 28:1-31; Psalm 9:1-12a; Proverbs 19:1-3
All Israel recognized David as their king in Hebron. Hebron was the city that the kings were anointed king but Jerusalem was where David wanted to live. It was occupied by the Jebusites so David proclaimed that whoever led the attack would be his chief commander. Joab was the first to volunteer so he got the job.
Next, we have a list of David’s mighty men and the three mightiest which were Jashobean, Eliazar and Abishai. They were like Jesus’ three: Peter, James and John. These men that were David’s mighty men were the ones that joined him at the beginning, before he was the king… when David was a fugitive and couldn’t even pay his men. These men had proved themselves faithful. Now, their leader was the king and now they would be rewarded for their faithfulness.
This is such a great picture of the Christian life. We follow Jesus and are faithful to him out of love and honor. We don’t get paid for being a Christian but we know that our reward is worth more than all the gold and silver in the world. Our reward is eternal life where Christ is the King.
Paul understood this as he walked on earth. In today’s reading, Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta. When a snake bit Paul, the people thought he was cursed, but when he didn’t die, they thought he was a god.
Next he is invited to one of the chief officials house for three days. His host’s dad is sick and dying from fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for the man. God healed him so Paul and his men were honored with supplies and all they needed. They stayed on the island during the hard months of winter then put out to sea again. This is the way we should leave a place - totally blessed and healed.
When Paul reached Rome, no one had sent a statement of charge against him. He was given a platform to preach the gospel. All was well till he threw in the prophecy about the Jews not being able to hear the truth and the Gentiles readily hearing. This lost his Jewish friends, but the Gentiles were open and hungry. He was able to live in peace and boldly able to preach the truth.
Lord, thank you for this land where we are free to live in peace and boldly proclaim the hope that is in us. May we do this with great joy.