1 Samuel 18-24

"Saul said to them, 'Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.'"

After David has defeated Goliath, Saul became jealous of him, and this is one of his many complaints to others as he has set out to kill David. Notice how many times "me" is used.

I was reminded at last night's bible study that Jesus alone is my righteousness (Seriously, how many times must I be reminded of this? I know this truth in my mind, but often I forget it in my heart...). He is my righteousness, whether I am poor, rich, young, or old. No matter what I think I may possess (good career, a large bank account, talents, etc.), it is nothing in the sight of God, when compared to the blood of Jesus.

I believe God confirmed the message I heard last night through the story of Saul's jealousy. What happened to Saul was that the presence of God had left him. And (I can attest to this in my own life) when you no longer have your eyes focused on God, you have no where to place that focus then on yourself. And when that happens, your pride completely takes over.

Saul's pride was threatened by David. He could not stand that people perceived David as being more powerful than himself. And since he has lost sight of God, he needed to make sure (by his own hands) that he remained the most powerful man in the eyes of his people. He even killed people that he thought were supporters of David (he killed the priests of Nob and destroyed the whole town). He pretty much lost his mind, and continued chasing after David, chasing after his own fear, and his own sense of worth.

I can honestly say that whenever I choose to turn my focus away from God (which is way too often...), I start chasing after things that gives me any sense of worth. I become easily threatened by other people's success (or just about anything else that they have that I don't). When we become focused on ourselves, the fear and anxiety that overtakes us are endless. We can never find any security in ourselves or in the things we possess. Yet, we so often choose to live this way.

As we were reminded last night, let's come boldly before God this day, because Jesus has died for us. He is our righteousness. He is our security. He is (if we allow him to be) our everything:)