Wake Up and Smell the Smoke -- The Pursuit

    ¹ David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag       and burned it, ² and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them    off as they went on their way. 

    ³ When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 1    Samuel 30:1-3 

A few weeks ago my pastor read these scriptures to us during a leader's meeting as he was explaining The Pursuit. He said, "Wake up and smell the smoke." 

I guess I've been trying to imagine that scene since then. The smell of smoke. Houses in ashes. Then the fear that your family has been killed. Slight relief in knowing that they are alive. Now anger, fear, and heartache at the realization that they are being held captive by your enemy.

If we know anyone who is not born again, they are like David's family. They are captive. Scripture says this about those who don't believe:

³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.   ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NIV

The unbelieving are dying. Let us wake up and smell the smoke. 

Pray: Father, thank You that You are God. You are like no one else. You love the people that You created. You don't want anyone to be apart from You, but sin separates us from You. Help me to wake up and smell the smoke and realize that there are captive people around me. They are perishing while I go about my life as if all is well. It's not well when people are being held captive by sin, blinded by the god of this world, and most importantly living separated from the One who loves them and created them for a better life. Father help me not to ignore the smoke – the signs pointing to those who are dying --  captive people are around me. I want to be part of the rescue party. And I want to do it in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Pursuit

Imagine leaving work early. You are told that they don't need you for this project, so you head home. As you approach your neighborhood you smell smoke. When you arrive at your house, you see that it has been burned down. Your family was there when you left this morning. You trudge through the ashes. You're relieved that the evidence proves that your family was not in the house. But you learn that your family has been taken captive.

That was pretty much the scene for David in 1 Samuel 30:1-3. He returned to his home with his army when they found that an enemy had stolen their families. These warriors cried until they could cry no more. So David began to seek God with the help of a priest. He asked of the Lord if he should pursue the group that stole his family and if he does, will he catch them. The Lord responded with a double yes: "Pursue them," He said, "and you will recover everything they've stolen."

Everything was actually everyone -- the men's wives and children. Probably some servants as well.

This is our theme for the next 30 days. Our pastor began a series of teachings today called The Pursuit. It's about regaining those that the enemy has stolen from us. On Easter Sunday, April 8, we will end the series by baptizing all those we have recovered. (By recovered I mean rescued from darkness, born again, saved.)