Based on 1 Samuel 21 (New King James Version)
“Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone, and no one is with you?’ So David said to Ahimelech the priest, ‘The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.’ And the priest answered David and said, ‘There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.’ Then David answered the priest, and said to him, ‘Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.’ So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. And David said to Ahimelech, ‘Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.’ So the priest said, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.’ And David said, ‘There is none like it; give it to me.’ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, ‘Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?’ Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, ‘Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?’”
Can we as human beings fulfill all of the Word of God, what God commands us to do while here on earth? Do we have the capacity of being perfect here on earth (we are talking in practical terms, not spiritual)? The answer is no, and that includes taking into account having the Holy Spirit in our lives and being redeemed and transformed through the grace of God. We will practically never come to be perfect while here on earth. And this is because the believer is still in the flesh. While we are still in this body of death (as Paul described it), sin will still be in our lives.
So, what then? Do we just give up and let sin reign in our lives? Or, will it be like some say, that because we are in grace, that it does not matter what we do, because God forgives everything, and so, we shouldn’t worry? Absolutely not on both accounts, because the Word teaches us exactly that we will not be able to see the Lord without holiness, and again, this is something practical that God teaches us, not just spiritual, because there are many out there that teach that since we have been forgiven through grace, and that we cannot remain saved by our works, and so, everything is by grace. My brethren and friends, God teaches us that after grace comes, there must be this process of obedience and sanctification in the believer, and this implies that there must be changes and transformation so that we can be made more similar to the God that called us. Both the spiritual and the practical process must be present, because if God would have just thought about sacrificing His Son on the cross, and that this would have not been fulfilled practically, then none of us would have salvation. God’s things need to be taken to action and fulfilled. So, what should we do?
The Bible explains to us that there are things that are more important to God than others in the scheme of obedience. God knows that we cannot be perfect while here on earth. We see the following story that the Lord Himself taught us which relates to the Scripture we read at the beginning, as it is written: “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’ But He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:1-8. The priest that gave David the showbread to eat didn’t do it without reason, but rather, because David and those that were with him had a great need, because David was fleeing for his life, unjustly persecuted by Saul because Saul wanted to kill him out of envy. So, the priest did sin by giving him the bread, but he did a greater justice before God. He practiced mercy. This teaches us that there are priorities in obeying God, even in grace (because the Lord Himself clears it up here).
The Word also teaches us the following: “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’’ And he answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.’ Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’ But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Mark 10:17-22. God will always take you practically through these priorities: “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31. If you allow yourself to be guided by these greatest commandments, and in their order of priority, even though you may commit mistakes, not only will you find forgiveness in God’s grace through Jesus Christ, but you will also be able to obey Him practically in a way more in tune to God’s heart. So then, are you living in God’s priorities? Lord bless! John