Daily Devotional for Friday, August 11

Nabal and Abigail

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb, 1 Samuel 25:3.

The short man in the baggy shorts at the counter glanced over at me. We made eye contact, but I was looking for my ride.  I was supposed to be picked up at the airport by the company CEO.  We did millions of dollars in business with this company, but I had never met their top executive.  I was looking for a suit.  A tall man in slacks and a polo maybe.  Someone tapped my arm; it was short baggy pants.   “Are you…?” he asked.

Nabal assumed that David was just another rogue. He was certain that David wasn’t worth his attention.  He was positive that David could be dismissed.    He did not know that his king, Saul, would soon be dead, and David would take the throne.  Fortunately, his wife had a clearer vision of the situation.

We serve God who is not partial.  He sees all and knows all.  God understands who is powerful, who will be powerful and who will die of a heart attack next week.  Every human being operates with limited information, personal bias and the short-sighted perception that comes with a life span of around 70 years. 

Abigail heard that Nabal treated David poorly and swiftly moved to action.  The scripture does not give her motivation, but she responds with as much generosity as Nabal had disdain. Was she just more aware?  As Christians, we should treat everyone like God would treat them.  If we can be generous, we serve a generous God.  If we do not know what they deserve, then we should simply treat them well and God will judge all in His due time.

THOUGHT: Commit to treating everyone you meet today as a valuable human being.

David Thompson