Did God Really Say?

# 321 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 22:6-7, “When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered-now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him- 7 then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, "Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? (1 Sam 22:6-7) I can't read this without thinking of spiritual warfare and some of the tactics that the devil uses against us. David and his men, representing Jesus and His followers, and Saul and his men, representing the devil and any and all who are not followers of Jesus. There is an old saying that “the devil owns the fence,” there is no sitting on the fence in the matter of salvation. Jesus has said, Mt 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Friend, you are either enlisted with David or Saul. There is no middle ground. The Holy Spirit makes a point to show us that Saul has a spear in his hand, he is, like the devil, ever ready to do battle. Saul's first battle is with his own men, He doesn't want any of them to switch sides and follow David, just as the devil doesn't want any souls to convert and follow Jesus. His first tactic is to imply that David is making promises to his troops that he couldn't possibly keep! “Will the son of David give you fields and vineyards and make you captains of thousands and hundreds?” It's like the old trick of the devil to cast doubt. It's the “did God really say” trick, that he uses so often to keep people from bolting to Jesus. But take heart my friend! Jesus CAN deliver on what He says, and although we may not be made owners of huge vineyards or captain over many men in this life, there is promise of great reward in heaven for those who finish the race in Christ. In the parable of the talents we read, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' I have no idea what it will be like in heaven, but eternal joy sounds pretty good to me. Father help us to overcome the doubting tactics of the devil.