Year 4, Day 324: 2 Samuel 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: In, Up

• In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family.  These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable.  They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment.  These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership.  They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.
• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

2 Samuel 7 is a really neat perspective on Up and In.  You see, David gets an idea.  So David takes that idea to Nathan, his spiritual In.  The two of them discern together and they decide that it sounds like a good plan.  David is given the green light to go ahead and build up a temple of the Lord.

This is where Up starts to take over.  That night, God visits Nathan and corrects Nathan.  Now think about this for a second.  Nathan has to admit that he was wrong.  He has to admit that he gave David bad advice.  But none of these things matter to Nathan.  His pride doesn’t get in the way.  What is important for Nathan is to follow the will of God regardless of what human plans may have been made.

We get a great chance to see Up and In with David in response to Nathan.  When Nathan comes to David, David listens.  Again, for David it is more important for him to follow God than to follow human plans.  David is humble and obedient to God.  David listens to his spiritual In.  This is a great example of how spiritual relationships truly work.

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