Focus

Take time to rest in the comfort of the Lord today.

Read

2 Samuel 6:6-12a (NRSV)

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God. David was angry because the LORD had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah; so that place is called Perez-uzzah, to this day. David was afraid of the LORD that day; he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come into my care?” So David was unwilling to take the ark of the LORD into his care in the city of David; instead David took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

It was told King David, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.”

Reflect

When I was a boy, my uncle came over to visit with me one day. He brought with him a new toy, a squishy foam “javelin” that we threw back and forth to each other, trying to catch it in midair in order to score points. After a while I decided that I was going to take this “javelin” up the hill near the house, ride down as fast as a I could on my bike, and throw it a mile! At least that was what I thought would happen.

Unfortunately, when I let go, the “javelin” flopped right in front of my bike. Not wanting to mess up my uncle’s new toy, I swerved to avoid hitting it…and ran right into a telephone pole! I broke my wrist, tore up a pair of brand new pants, and missed most of the summer baseball season, all because I tried to protect this little piece of squishy foam.

Sometimes it seems as though no good deed goes unpunished. Uzzah was simply trying to protect the Ark. Why did God kill him for that? Uzzah chose to ignore the rules God had given for handling the Ark. Sometimes we think we’re doing right, but we are wrong. Even if we believe we are following God’s path for our lives, we can be led away from God’s path. Hopefully, we will find the path back to God before it’s too late.

Pray

Merciful God, too often, even when we have the best intentions, we end up doing things our own way. We ignore your warning signs. Help us to recognize that we are to do good and help others, not for our own glory but for yours. Amen.

Go with God.