The Valiant Act of Uriah

710 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 23:39 and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all. Were you expecting this? Were you expecting to hear Uriah the Hittite's name on the list of David's valiant men? Kind of caught me by surprise. It's not that I didn't think Uriah was valiant. The word valiant means “strong,” and Uriah exhibited great strength of character when he refused a conjugal visit with his wife, when David was trying to cover up his sin with Bathsheba. He said, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." (2 Sam 11:11) This was a great sacrifice on his part as he chose to abstain from personal pleasure for the sake of identifying with the lack of like opportunity for his fellow soldiers. Such acts are regarded as valiant in the eyes of the Lord. Think about that the next time you have opportunity to show compassion on someone less fortunate than you. We are blessed to have many opportunities to spend ourselves on the pleasures of life, but what about those who don't? What if we would look for opportunities to identify with their lack by “paying our blessings forward?” That would be a noteworthy act of valor! Why, just giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus is an act of valor in that it is time and water that you could have spent on yourself! Jesus said in Mt 10:42 "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." One more thing, David's inclusion of Uriah on this list must have stung him. It must have pained him to be reminded again of his awful deed against Uriah. But by the grace of God he was able to do it. We too are often stung by reminders of our past sins, but being able to talk about them demonstrates that we, like David have a deep understanding of the complete forgiveness that God offers us through Christ!