2 Samuel 2:23: “However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.”

June 11th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Abner, Saul’s general, killed Asahel, the younger brother of Joab, David’s general. Abner killed him in self-defense as Asahel was relentlessly pursuing him. Abner called back to Asahel, “If I kill you, how can I face your brother Joab? Stop coming after me.” This proved to be all too true, as Abner would later die at the hand of Joab.

Asahel’s determination and ambition did not serve him well; he was ambitious for the wrong thing. There is an important lesson here that we should consider all the days of our lives. We must pick our battles carefully. It is good to be determined and fervent about causes, but there are many, many good causes in life. We need to go to God and prayerfully consider which cause to give our limited time, talents, and energy to. Everyone runs out of time, and in the final analysis, what we have spent our time on will matter. We need to constantly be reminding ourselves to stay focused, above all, on the gospel going out to the whole world. For believers, when all is said and done, taking the gospel to a dying world is the only cause critical enough to be worth dying for.

“LORD, keep us focused on and working toward the highest calling for our time and energy this day.”