SCRIPTURE:
“Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors.
He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.”
2 Samuel 23:22-23
OBSERVATION:
Here we have chronicled the exploits of King David’s Mightiest warriors.
There are the ones who are famed, called “The Three”, and their deeds are clearly described in this chapter.
Then, there are what’s called “the thirty”, actually 37 of them, who are hand picked by the King as his elite force, his battle-proven.
But the one thing that caught my eye as I read through the list of these mighty men, was the comment about Benaiah, who was appointed the captain of the bodyguard.
It says that “…he was more honored than the other 30, but not one of “The Three.” “(my paraphrase).
Why not? Why does it only have to be three? Can’t it be the Mighty Four? Call it the “Fantastic Four!”
Because to Benaiah, it wasn’t about that. It was about the duty, warfare, and taking care of the King’s battles. Not position, rank, or titles.
APPLICATION:
Sometimes in God’s army, there are battles to be fought and enemy territory to be exploited and captured for our Lord and King, Jesus.
We have great generals in our army, who lead thousands upon thousands, and among these ranks are those who are “The Three”, and there are many contingents of “thirty mighty men (and women)”!
It’s human to want to excel and be motivated to desire to be in “The Three”. To have the title and the rank and the esteem of being the top of the top. To be recognized and known.
We are sometimes motivated to expect only the greatest out of ourselves and push and strive, but...for what?
If we are called into His army, isn’t it enough to do the best you can with what you have on you, and trust God to do the rest, including promotion into the ranks of the thirty or even The Three? Or not?
Can we be good as leaders that we are honored by our King, Jesus, even if we are never counted as “The Three” or even, the thirty?
God wants our heart. Whether we are like a king David, whose heart was after God, or whether we are a rank and file soldier, or anything in between. Just gotta be faithful.
He will sustain us no matter what. We just need to put our ambition down and take up the armor of God.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I’m in.
Whether I’m one of “The Three”, the thirty, or one of three thousand. I’m in. And, I’m Yours.
Amen.
