2 Samuel 19:15: “Then the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.”

June 28th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

After Absalom’s rebellion was defeated, the people of Israel disputed among themselves about bringing King David back. But they reasoned that he had delivered them from the Philistines and Absalom was dead, so there was no other choice of who to accept as king. But still the tribe of Judah, the direct family of David, hesitated and was the last tribe to come around and welcome the king back. Perhaps they had also played a part in Absalom’s rebellion, and so were slow to accept David. Not everyone was excited to see the coming king.

Could this be a picture of another coming King and the mixed attitudes of people around us every day? We know when Jesus returns, not everyone will meet Him the same way. Some will be excited and happy, but many others will be caught off guard. The big question for us all is how will we meet the King? If He came today, would we be ready or does that question have us worried? If it has us worried, we need to do something this very moment: repent and bring back the King in our hearts by serving Him today.

We are all challenged by the life of missionaries who have given their all in the mission field. One life that challenges us is William Borden, of the famous Borden family. In 1912, William Borden, a graduate of Yale University, left one of America’s greatest family fortunes to be a missionary to China. He got as far as Egypt and died of cerebral meningitis. He was only in his 20s. After his death these words were found written in his Bible: “No reserve—No retreat—No regrets.”

“LORD, we want to serve You today with no retreat or regrets, bringing You back as King.”