1 Chronicles 19:1-5
Some time later, King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king. David said, "Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son." He sent some officials to Ammon to tell Hanun how sorry he was that his father had died.
But when David's officials arrived at Ammon, the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, "Do you really believe King David is honoring your father by sending these men to comfort you? He probably sent them to spy on our country, so he can come and destroy it."
Hanun arrested David's officials and had their beards shaved off and their robes cut off just below the waist, and then he sent them away. They were terribly ashamed. When David found out what had happened to his officials, he sent a message that told them, "Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then you can come home.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
In previous devotionals, I’ve cited the adage that “People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” And honestly, sometimes all we need is to know that someone else cares about us. In this instance, David was doing the right thing, but people questioned his motives. And that will happen… especially if you are not in the business of genuinely caring for others on a regular basis. We’ve probably all had someone do something nice for us at one time or another and wondered, “Why did that happen? What did he/she really want?”
The bottom line is that God calls us to genuinely care for others… to love them as He loves us. David demonstrated this… not only in sending officials to express his sympathy, but also in allowing those officials to stay away until their time of shame had ended and their beards had grown back. He not only showed great concern for his own men… but also for others.
I can see where the Ammonites might have thought David had selfish motives. After all, didn’t a king have more important things to think about than the grief of someone else? And don’t we have plenty to occupy our time and our thoughts? Do we really have time to think about the troubles and needs of others? The answer lies in another question… “How much do you want to serve and honor God and your commitment to Him?”
If you truly are God’s disciple and desire to serve Him with honor and glory, then you will find plenty of time to show love and concern to others for their needs. If you are “in it for yourself,” the outcome will be totally different… and any demonstration of concern may seem suspicious.
I challenge you to consider how you show your love for God by loving others. I suggest that you try to reach out to at least one person every day. You can write a note or mail a card… make a phone call or send an e-mail… visit someone… offer to run an errand or cook a meal… babysit or pet sit… send a gift or a flower…offer up a prayer… or simply and ask someone, “How are you today?” – and mean it! The end result must be that someone knows that you are thinking of them and genuinely care about their well-being.
You can choose family members and close friends… but why not expand your circle to include a church member, a classmate, or someone you haven’t been in contact with for a while. We find it easy to care about those in our immediate circle… and we do a fairly good job of showing our love and concern. But what if we broadened our horizons a little bit and reached out to those with whom we are not quite so close or don’t know as well?
I know this won’t be easy for many of us… especially not at first. But as we make it a daily habit and ask God to guide us, we will find that it gets easier… and more rewarding for everyone. People truly don’t care what we know until they know that we care. Who knows that you care… and who else needs to hear from you?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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