Obey the Commander In Chief

589 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 18:10-13, “Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, "I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!" 11 So Joab said to the man who told him, "You just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt." 12 But the man said to Joab, "Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!' 13 "Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me." (2 Sam 18:10-13) This incident strikes me as rather bizarre. One of David's soldiers is engaged in mopping up operations in the forest of Ephraim and he stumbles across the general of the rebel army. He's still alive but hung up in the terebinth tree! What would you have done? Wouldn't you have tried to untangle him and take him prisoner? Maybe the soldier thought he would need some help and so he seeks out Joab. Joab, ever the man of war says, 'you saw him and didn't kill him? What's wrong with you boy! This is war! I would have rewarded you handsomely for your service! But the soldier replies, “Did you not hear the commander in chief's instructions? He specifically told all three of his generals to take him alive!” This dressing down of a superior officer took an awful lot of courage on the part of this “certain” soldier. Not only that, but even the promise of financial reward was not enough to keep him from disobeying his commander in chief! This incident should remind us that as Christians we have One commanding officer, and when push comes to shove we need to obey Him rather than men. It's what Peter and John courageously did when they were called before the “generals” of the ruling council in Jerusalem. It's what many more of us may be called to do as our nation is seemingly becoming less and less guided by Christian principles. We may have our very freedom taken away from us, or suffer financial penalty for our insistence on following our Commander in Chief rather than obeying men. May God help us to be courageous!