KEY VERSE
“Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. And she said to her young men, ‘Go on before me; behold, I come after you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal”.
1 SAMUEL 25:18-19
Read 1 Samuel 25:1-29
The Fool, The Rash, and The Wise
When I was about 10, I did the one of the most foolish things in my life. One day, when my parents were out, I noticed a lemonade bottle hidden away on top of the kitchen cupboards and I reckoned it must have been the good stuff, because why else would it be kept hidden up there? So, I decided I would have a drink of it. I climbed on the counter and balanced on a stool. I reached up and wrapped my hand around the bottle. Excitedly, I opened the lid and glugged it back… and then the pain hit! The liquid burned my throat and I suddenly noticed I couldn't breathe. I ran out onto the street turning blue and was found by our neighbour who managed to bring me round and get me breathing again.
When my parents arrived home, our neighbour told them that I’d had an asthma attack but my mum said, “Adrian doesn't have asthma”. The truth came out when the bottle was found. This bottle contained woodworm killer that was left over after the floorboards had been treated by Rentokil. Dad thought it was good idea to store it in a lemonade bottle.
That was the most foolish thing I have done my life, but everyone knows the wisest thing I ever did in my life was to marry Maddie!
In today’s scripture we see:
Nabal: The Fool
David: The Rash, and
Abigail: The Wise
While David was in hiding, he had protected Nabal’s shepherds from robbers that roamed the wilderness but when David was in need of food for his men, Nabal foolishly refused to help! David decided to teach Nabal a deadly lesson. In his anger he is about to make the rashest decision of his life which could have cost him his future crown. In this situation, both David and Nabal lacked wisdom. Enter, the wise Abigail. She rustles up a feast and, without her husband’s knowledge, takes the food to meet David before his troops arrive at Nabal’s camp. Wisdom wins the day!
Ephesians 5:15-21 begins, “Look carefully how you walk, not as the unwise but as the wise”.
Paul gives three ways to walk in wisdom:
1. Understand what the will of the Lord is: Take time before reacting, or when making a decision to seek God.
2. Be filled with the Spirit: Ask Him for the gift of wisdom (James 1:5)
3. Submitting to one another: Take advice from godly council.
By taking a moment before we speak or react, we can seek godly wisdom and that wisdom can save the day.
Author: Adrian Porter - Elder, Living Hope Church, Isle of Man