Our Daily Bread: Celebrating JesusSample

Captain of a Motley Crew

Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men. -1 Samuel 22:2

As a child, I always found Christmas Eve one of the most exciting days of the year. I knew there would be presents in the morning, a feast that night, and a candlelight service at church. But it was also exciting because I never knew who was going to end up at our house for dinner. My parents loved inviting people who were alone or had nowhere to go to come share a meal with us. Folks from church, from their places of work, our friends from school—it was always a motley crew.

David was on the run from King Saul and in need of good friends to surround him (1 Samuel 22:1–2). He needed the right community to help him in his crisis. Instead, what he found were hundreds of men who were also in trouble—those “in trouble or in debt or . . . discontented” (v. 2). Yet, David became captain over the motley crew and they trusted him.

Jesus—the true and better David—is exactly the kind of person who gathered those around Him that society had discarded. Throughout the gospels, it’s often the sick and the disabled, the outcast, and the sinner who find belonging and healing in Jesus. The church is meant to be a kind of cave of Adullam (v. 1). It’s not a perfect community, but a ragtag group in need of a loving, healing Captain. -Glenn Packiam

Who are the people Jesus has put in your life? How have they provided unexpected companionship and peace for you in times of trouble?

Dear Jesus, thank You for the way You’ve welcomed me into Your family. Help me to recognize the people around me as unexpected gifts.