Making the King look good

Up until now, 1 Chronicles has been a dense forest of genealogy—which, I’ll admit, I’ve just been skimming pretty fast. While it’s great to remember that God never stops working through the generations, it hasn’t exactly been a real page-turner.

That all changed today. Suddenly, Samuel’s grim prophecy comes alive. Saul and his sons fought in a brutally violent battle with the Philistines, and as the enemy closed in, they cut down all three of Saul’s sons. I found it tragic when I read about the death of Jonathan, David’s loyal friend. As the fighting intensified around Saul, an arrow struck him. Desperate, he begged his armor-bearer to kill him, but the man froze in fear. Saul chose to fall on his own sword, and his armor-bearer followed him into death. In one swift, devastating stroke, Saul, his sons, and his dynasty ended.

‘Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.  When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died.  So Saul and his three sons died there together, bringing his dynasty to an end.  ‘
1 Chronicles 10:4-6

The chapter closes by pulling back the curtain on why he fell: Saul died because he was unfaithful, disobeyed God’s commands, and consulted a witch instead of seeking the Lord.

‘So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He failed to obey the Lord’s command, and he even consulted a medium  instead of asking the Lord for guidance. So the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.’
1 Chronicles 10:13-14

Pondering Saul and his family’s tragic end forces me to look at my personal rebellion—which God considers just as dangerous as witchcraft. I can only thank Him for turning my heart around before it was too late. Not that I have it all figured out; some days I honestly feel like sin is the only thing I’m good at. But I ask for forgiveness and keep pressing forward, praying God changes my heart so I can be a better man. I want my descendants to follow Christ, not see our legacy cut short.

I recently heard a preacher say that we are Ambassadors for Christ, and our only job is to make Jesus look good. This must be our identity and our ultimate goal. The only way to reach it is to seek Christ first in everything, and to ask the Holy Spirit daily to govern our words, thoughts, and actions.

Our only job is to make Jesus our King look good. What a legacy we could leave if we take that job seriously.