Daily Manna: A Voice Against Hatred

Friday 5, July 2013

TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 6:8-18

KEY VERSE: “And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart” (2 Samuel 6:16).

Leonardo Da Vinci, just before he commenced work on his “Last Supper”, had a violent argument with a fellow painter. Leonardo was so bitter that he determined to paint the face of his enemy, the other artist, into the face of Judas, and thus take his revenge by handing the man down in infamy and scorn to succeeding generations. The face of Judas was, therefore, one of the first he finished. And everyone could easily recognize it as the face of the painter with whom he had quarreled. But when he came to paint the face of Christ, he could make no progress. Something seemed to be baffling him, holding him back, frustrating his best efforts. Finally, he overcame hatred with forgiveness and was then able to resume his work on the face of Jesus and this time did it with the success that the ages have acclaimed. When Da Vinci moved past his right to take revenge and made the right response instead, he broke the power of hatred and allowed the love of Christ to have the last word.

From our text, Michal viewed David with contempt on the day that the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem. When she fussed at him for behaving in an undignified manner while celebrating its arrival, David humiliated her in return. And the Bible says that she was barren throughout her life.

Like Michal, we may look back through our lives and discover key moments where anger and hurt turned to bitterness, even despair. We, too, can easily find people in our lives to blame. We can even blame God, beginning to question whether or not He is a loving God or a harsh taskmaster. And we can choose to dwell in that bitter place where we find ourselves.

We cannot always choose what comes to us because of circumstances. But we can choose the love of God. We can choose Christ, our ever-ready Burden Bearer. The choice is entirely yours.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Bury the hatchet! Move on in life.

***Share your thoughts and what you've just learnt in the comments section below. Don't forget to SHAR