Neither Doomed nor Entitled

Nothing in this world is static, which is to say, nothing stays the same. That is the way it has always been. It is very evident if you move around, open your eyes, and notice the way there are vestiges of the world that was in the world that is. For example, this past weekend I was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Sioux Indians are not the ones that primarily occupy Sioux Falls, but it points back to the history of the Sioux. This spring I was privileged to be in Aberdeen, South Dakota. It was not Scotland nor was it primarily founded by Scottish people, but it was named after a railroad magnate who was from Aberdeen, Scotland. So, you find a little bit of the past in the present in the very name.

Yesterday, I drove by the Badlands of South Dakota on my left and on my right was the historical setting and remnants of an old missile silo. So, even the modern era, the missile silo, is now history. Nothing is static. Things are always and forever changing.

In I Chronicles 11 the Bible gives us the growth and change of King David. “David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.” You are either growing better or growing worse. You are growing bitter or growing gracious. All of us are changing every day. The question is which way are you changing? For David, he waxed greater and greater, and the reason was because the Lord of hosts was with him. This was a special name for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, a military designation.

In I Chronicles 11 you find the city of David, the home of David, the men of David, and the God of David. As to the city of David, the Bible tells us about how that happened. Verse 7 says, “Therefore they called it the city of David.” What is the “therefore”? It is that the city of David, Jerusalem as we know it, was once called Jebus and was occupied by the Jebusites. They taunted David and David conquered them by the power of the Lord of hosts. So, the city of David was not always so. At one time it was occupied by Canaanites.

The home of David is spoken of in verses 15 and following. We are told a story about the occupied hometown of David. Bethlehem, even though it was the birthplace of David, was occupied by the Philistines. On a number of occasions I have been to historical sites of great significance, yet no one was paying attention to them anymore and the people who ran them didn’t even have good recollection of what made the sites so significant.

Then, there are the men of David. In verses 10 and following you find the mighty men of David. What is interesting is that among them is one Ammonite and one Moabite. Verse 46 tells us about a mighty man of David who was a Moabite, and verse 22 tells us about some lion-like Moabite men who were defeated by another mighty man of David.

The point is that you have a city that once belonged to the Canaanites, then became the city of David. You have the hometown of David that later became occupied by the Philistines. You have a Moabite and an Ammonite who were not part of God’s chosen people, yet because of choices they made, following Jehovah God, they became not just men of David, but mighty men of David. All of this is under the heading of the God of David. David grew greater because God Almighty was with him, and one of the ways God was with him was through the mighty men David had.

The point that is important to us today is that you are neither doomed nor entitled by your history. It is so easy to go to a church and see a man you believe is a great man. I thank God for that, but just because someone has a great heritage, history, family, or gift does not mean you are entitled. You are not.

In the same church there may be someone who is newly saved but has a wretched background. That person is not doomed by his history. We are neither doomed nor entitled by our history. You have to fight for what you are. When I say fight, I don’t mean the world’s concept of gaining mastery of other people so we can be more important. No, we need to have mastery of ourselves by yielding ourselves to God.

David grew greater and greater because he followed God, the Lord of hosts. The God of battle led him to be what God wanted him to be. The Bible tells us specifically that God anointed him. David was king not because he had ambition, but because God had him. He was anointed as king. He was consecrated. David gave what he had to God Almighty. You also find all the victories of David. David was victorious because God was with him, led him, and delivered him.

I can’t possibly know all that is in your past, your successes and failures, the kings and thieves in your lineages. We all probably have both. The bottom line is that you are not doomed or entitled by your past. Today, ask God to help you have a fresh start. Every day is a fresh start to a wise person. There are things you have not chosen in life. You did not choose where you were born or to whom you were born, but you do have a choice in the way you live. That is what God will honor in your life.