Godly Men- Crumbs Or The Whole Loaf
I think that sometimes we don’t position our lives from a place of victory, of receiving all that God has for us. Instead of believing that we can have a rich fulfilled life, we go for crumbs instead of taking the whole loaf. We weren’t made by God to settle for crumbs, we were actually made to have the best life and all that He has planned for us. We choose to settle for subpar jobs because we don’t think that we could ever be an entrepreneur or start a business, we choose to settle and date someone even if they aren’t God’s best because we’re worried about being single our whole lives, we choose to marry someone that we know isn’t good for us and get into relationships that are over before they begin, we never take that step to start that thing because we’re allowing fear to hold us back.
For October, SEELE has been looking at men, Godly men, men who know who they are in Jesus, and today, I want to point out two men who went for the whole loaf and not crumbs, and one who went for the crumbs.
King David
He was a man after God’s own heart according to the Bible. Around age 15 when he was anointed to be Israel’s next king, but it wasn’t until he turned 30 that he became king of Israel. In these 15 years, God was testing David to see if he would be honest and if he would honor Him in his choices, and if David would position his life from a place of victory to receive that all God had for him. When David was challenged by King Saul to kill 100 Philistines and bring their foreskins back to him (1 Samuel 18:25), David killed 200 Philistines and brought their foreskins to the king (1 Samuel 18:27).
But victory isn’t always winning according to the world’s definition. Twice, David had the opportunity kill his enemy, King Saul. But, he steadied his hand to honor God by not having vengeance on Saul’s life, and David left Saul to God and had victory over his temptation to kill him.
Once David did fail and angered God by lusting after Bathsheba, then sleeping with her- a married woman, then trying to get her pregnancy covered up after he got her pregnant, and then ultimately having her husband killed. God punished him for these sins but David got right with God after those mistakes.
King Solomon
At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, he sought to honor God and live a life in total surrender and reliance upon God to help him rule. God loved Solomon so that he told him, “ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). As a king presiding over a nation, Solomon positioned himself for a victorious kingship by asking God not for wealth or fame, but wisdom to rule Israel. Solomon went for the whole loaf and not crumbs like many of the kings that would come after him in Israel’s regal history.
Barak son of Abinoam
We see Barak, a man that went for crumbs. Deborah, Israel’s judge said to him: “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”
I don’t get it. Deborah had prophesied that God was going to deliver the enemy but Barak, a coward, gave way to fear and said he’d go on the mission if she’d go with him. I’m trying to picture this because after having lived in the Middle East for two years now, men in this part of the world like to really be large and in charge. Barak missed this opportunity to take the enemy down and victory went into the hands of a woman.
There are so many ‘loaves of bread’ men in the Bible- JESUS is the number one, Gideon, the Apostle Paul, Boaz, Abraham, Joseph, and Job, etc.
When Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10)- believe it!
When you know God and are walking with Him, Son and Holy Spirit you will know your identity and value in HIM. And because of that, you will position your life to be lived from a place of victory, only accepting the whole loaf, not crumbs. That means sometimes you have to say no to that job or opportunity, or say no to that relationship (platonic or romantic), or go back and ask for more money in that deal, or, say no you can’t do something because it goes against your values or morals.
Crumbs aren’t fulfilling, they don’t satisfy, so let us not be people who refuse to accept them. Jesus gave His life so we can have the absolute 100% best fulfilling whole loaf of bread life, so take it!