1 Samuel 18:6-8, 19:1-2, Mark 3:7-12

1 Samuel 18:6-9, 9:1-2

6 When they arrived after David had slain the Philistine, the women came out from the cities of Israel to meet King Saul singing and dancing with timbrels and musical insruments. 7 They were merrily singing this song: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David, his tens of thousands.”  8 Saul was very displeased with this song and said, “They have given tens of thousands to David but to me only thousands! By now he has everything but the kingdom!” 9 From then on, Saul became very distrustful of David.• 1 Saul told his son Jonathan and his servants of his intention to kill David. But Jonathan, who liked David very much, 2 said to David, “My father Saul wants to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning and hide yourself in a secret place.

Instead of rejoicing in the wonderful things God had done through David for the nation, Saul was mean-minded and jealous.

My Beloved, how often we are foolishly jealous of those who use the gifts You have given them generously in the service of others.  Often we make our own misery.  If we could always remember that we belong to You and trust You, no harm would come to us.

Mark 3:7-12

7 Jesus and his disciples withdrew to the lakeside and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. A great number of people also came from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that he was doing. 9 Because of the crowd, Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him, to prevent the people from crushing him. 10 He healed so many that all who had diseases kept pressing towards him to touch him. 11 Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he warned them sternly not to tell anyone who he was.

My Beloved, many follow You to obtain some favor or other and after having received it they forget.  You want each one of us to make the personal discovery of who You are.  Initially we may come to You because of some pressing need or difficulty but after we have encountered You on the physical level, we have to move on to the far more important, experiencing You and knowing You on the spiritual level.  I must make a personal discovery of who You are and this must enable me make a radical change in my life.