Rhythms of GraceSample

In the story of David and Goliath, David, who is a young shepherd boy, was not expected to take out the biggest enemy of the Israelite army. Literally the biggest, the 9-foot-tall giant. The Israelite army had been too scared and too defeated to face Goliath and the Philistines but David, while visiting his brothers on the battlefield, stepped up to the battle with no fear because of his faith and confidence of who His God was. Goliath was defeated and Israel won the battle because of David’s confidence. Within this story, David represents Jesus. The most unlikely candidate to come and save all of humanity. He was born in Bethlehem and was Nazarene. He grew up like most boys did and did not particularly stand out. However, Jesus stepped up to the battle for us so that we could have a relationship with God. The ultimate battle against sin and death was won by Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. We can see Jesus in the story of David and Goliath by Jesus defeating the giants in our lives known as sin and death. A battle we cannot win on our own.

While most of this week has been about how Jesus was connected to different stories from the Old Testament, there are direct references to Jesus within Isaiah and Zechariah. The book of Isaiah was written sometime between 739-681 BC. The book of Zechariah was written sometime between 520-470 BC. Jesus was born sometime between 6 and 4 BC. That means the account of who Jesus was and what He was going to do was written somewhere between 733-464 years. The prophecies were not vague, they were in detail and we see them fulfilled in detail within the New Testament. This is like your great great great grandparents from 700 years ago writing down who you are, what your name will be, and what you will do with your life, and those things happening to the exact detail happening now. Most of us don’t even know what our great great great grandparents did, let alone who they were. These prophecies of Jesus show that God is intentional and detailed. Jesus was part of the plan from the Garden of Eden until the prophecies of the New Testament and He’s still part of the plan for our lives today. How great it is to have a God who cares for us! Take time as we close out this week to reflect and pray. Below is a prayer to celebrate who Jesus is and what He has done for us.

God,

Thank You for Your intentionality and having a plan since the beginning of time. I know You sent Your Son so that I can have a relationship with You; Your love is so great for me. I’m sorry for taking for granted the grace and forgiveness that You offer me daily. Help me to see You in my everyday life and to be more aware of Your presence. God, help me to let go of my plans and trade them for Yours. Your ways and plans are better than my own. Continue to reveal Your will for my life. Thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus and for the freedom offered through Him. I praise You for all You have done and all that You will do. I love you.

In Jesus name,

Amen