Category: Devotion of the Day

TARRYING AT BESOR

As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
I Samuel 30:24

Two hundred of David’s men could not go on with him in the pursuit of the Amalekites. They were faint and stayed at the brook Besor. When the four hundred who went on returned with the spoils of victory, some did not want to share with those who had lingered behind. But, iin the words of our text, David ruled otherwise.

For one reason or another, a lot of us do not get over Besor. We ought not to be faint, and all honor to the hardy souls who can “take it.” But none of us has anything that he did not receive, and we show better spirit by sharing with weaker saints than in all our exploits against the enemy.

Some precious souls are housed in feeble bodies or otherwise kept at Besor. They never make the headlines with the front-line four hundred. But some prayed and toiled to keep hardier souls in the battle, and when the final prizes are awarded “they shall part alike.”

Christ’s Program For Ephesus

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.
Revelation 2:5

A revival is the church remembering, the church repenting, the church repeating. Modern Ephesus may be orthodox and busy but she is far from her first love. She must have her mind stirred up by way of remembrance. She must discover how far she has slipped from her first estate. This is not easy and often is resented, for she may be very proud of her works and labor and patience and her hatred of the deeds of the Nicolaitanes. But revival begins with remembering, and to “jog the memory” is not easy for a preacher in Ephesus.

The church must repent, as our Lord commanded five out of seven churches in Asia to do. The average “revival” gets nowhere near a call to genuine repentance. And the church must repeat, do again the first works. To halt all the vast machinery today until we remember, repent, and repeat the first works would disrupt our program. So we dispense with real revival and face the “or else” of removal: “I will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”