Quest for More

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April 11 ~ 1 Samuel 13-14

“There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn’t allow them for fear they would make swords and spears…” 1 Samuel 13:19 (NLT)

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I wasn’t a very competitive kid, but come “sword drill” time (aka Bible Reference Competition), I was all in.

In case you are unfamiliar, a sword drill is a competition in which one person would stand in front of the church and call out a scripture reference. The congregation would then frantically flip through their Bibles in search for the verse. Whoever found it first, read it out loud and received a point. At the end of the competition, the person with the most points, won. Its purpose is to entice the younger generation to know their Bibles.

In my Bible reading, I came across a passage which took me back to those sword drill days.

1 Samuel 13:19 states, “There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn’t allow them for fear they would make swords and spears.” (NLT)

The Philistines saw to it that the Israelites had no blacksmiths. No blacksmiths meant no weaponry. No weaponry meant no proper way to defend themselves. For decades, this put the Israelites at a great disadvantage. They were constantly subject to neighboring bullies.

Fast forward to today...the enemy’s tactic has not changed.

The Bible is our sword (Hebrews 4:12). The enemy will do everything He can to unequip us...so he distracts us.

Satan isn’t intimidated by the number of Bibles in my home. He doesn’t even care that I’ve downloaded it on my phone and read an occasional verse of the day.

He doesn’t care that I have a sword…if I never really use it.

We live in a day in which a million things fight for our attention. If we allow the distractions to win, then we will fall like Adam and Eve in the garden…hearing only the voice of the serpent and questioning what God really said (Genesis 3:1).

Sword drills were great, but even that didn’t intimidate the enemy. It’s when we open up our Bibles, or our Bible app, and know how to use our swords. It’s when we allow God’s Word to penetrate and pierce our souls. Then, we will see true victory over any and every situation we may be facing.

The enemy took away the Israelites swords. Don’t let him take away yours.

~Binu