Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 17: 20-37.
Memory Verse: “And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;” 1 Samuel 30:11 (KJV).
Naaman was the captain of the army of king of Syria and was a great man but was a leper! This was a big challenge to him but because his wife was apparently nice to their Israeli maid, she told her mistress how Naaman could be healed by a prophet in Israel. And indeed, Elisha healed him.
In contrast to that is the Egyptian domestic staff who followed his Amalekite master to war but was abandoned because of his sickness! 1 Samuel 30:11,13 (KJV) says “And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; . [13] And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.” David of course treated the man well and got necessary information from him that made them discover the Amalekites and recovered all they had taken away from them and even more!
The Israeli maid was a neighbour to Naaman’s wife and she was instrumental to the healing of her mistress’ husband. And the Egyptian servant to the Amalekite was also instrumental to the destruction of the Amalekites because he was abandoned. How well do you treat your neighbours particularly, your domestic staff, the poor, needy around you and the less privileged? Jesus said in Matthew 22:39 (KJV), “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” And please remember that Jesus explained that your neighbour is any person that you come across that needs your help irrespective of his/her status, race, colour etc. (Luke 10:25-37).
This generous attitude was exhibited by David again when they came back from the war with the Amalekites and those that did not go to the war were about being exempted from sharing part of the spoils of war. He countered it and insisted that those that did not go should share equally with those that went. And that became a war ordinance for Israelites from then forward! (1 Samuel 30: 22-25 ). Are you generous to your neighbour?
Action point: Please seek out a neighbour and render necessary help to him/her today.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero