BIBLE READING

1 Samuel 17: 49-51

Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

REFLECTION

This is where I want to finish in looking at this epic battle between David and Goliath. Do you notice that David wasn’t content just to hit Goliath or knock him down. He wanted to make sure he was finished for good, so he cut off his head.

For some reading this devotional today, I sense the Lord would say: 'It’s time to cut off the giants head.'

What does that mean?

It means that some of us have things in our lives which we know aren’t good for us, habits that are harming us, things that are holding us back, relationships that we know aren’t God’s best for us – and because we know it’s not good for us we knock it down for a while, but we never kill it completely. We push it away – but we never cut its head off. We break things off – but only temporarily.

Then a day, a week, a few months later – we go right back to it again and end up exactly where we were before if not worse. The giant gets back up and we have to face it all over again, only this time it seems even stronger than before. It’s even harder to fight.

The Puritans used to have a saying: BE KILLING SIN OR SIN WILL BE KILLING YOU

God would say to some of you today – it’s time to cut the head off that thing. It’s time to kill it completely. Stop letting it destroy the things He has planned for you. Stop letting it hold you back. Stop letting it control you. Cut the head off it.

The greatest giant in our life we have ever had to face is our own sin and sinfulness. We are sinners by nature and we are sinners by choice. And like Israel against Goliath, on our own we are completely powerless.

But 2000 years ago another young man stepped into our situation. Like David he didn’t look impressive or powerful. But he stepped forward to take on this giant of sin for us, on our behalf. And when he went to the cross it looked like he’d been defeated, like the giant was too big for him. He died on the cross and was buried.

But the grave couldn’t hold him, death could not defeat him, and on the third day this same man called Jesus rose from the grave and conquered satan, sin, death and hell. Today he sits victorious at God’s right hand and one day he’s coming back for his church.

Through Jesus’ victory over sin, we have victory over sin. Through his conquering, we can be more than conquerers. Through his new life, we can have a new start. And through His power, we can have power to live for him.