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Discipleship Focus: Appetite
- Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled. When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus. But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.
Appetite. It’s one of
humanity’s biggest issues. I’m not
talking about over-eating. I’m talking
about the consumption of things in the world that drive us to make decisions.
Ishbosheth has an appetite for power and control. His dad is dead. His well-known brother is dead. He suddenly finds himself in an unexpected
position of power and begins to like it.
So when Abner comes along and begins to demonstrate a little too much
power, Ishbosheth’s own appetite for power is challenged. He and Abner part ways because Ishbosheth
doesn’t want any of his power to go away.
David doesn’t have an appetite for power. That is why he has no problem accepting Abner’s
allegiance when it is offered. David
wants peace among God’s people and sees Abner’s appeal for peace as a means to
a good end.
However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t see David’s
appetite. While he might not have an
appetite for power, he certainly seems to have an appetite for women. We hear in this chapter that he has seven
wives and is actively producing sons – and presumably daughters – through his
wives. He’s not just collecting
political treaties, which daughters were often used to guarantee. David is collecting sexual partners.
We all have an appetite for something in this world. We will all struggle with something that
captures our heart for consumption. The
question is whether or not we are able to recognize it and whether it will
control our life or not. As we continue
to look at David, we will see again and again how this particular issue with
his appetite will cycle through his life and reign as God’s anointed.
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