BLOOMING
IN THE RIGHT SPOT
BIBLE PASSAGE: 1 SAMUEL
20: 30-34
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MEMORY VERSE
Let every man abide in the same calling wherein
he was called.
1 CORINTHIANS
7:20
Lesson
Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
Lesson
ideas: DailyBread
JUNE 14,
2020
INTRODUCTION:
Every summer, my mother wishes to
have beans planted at the backyard in Kentucky. Sad to say this year, she made
the wrong decision on where the vegetables should be planted first. She
directly planted them in the soil without first planting them in pots and now
she had no seeds left. Unexpectedly, one relative sent him seeds to use and
she’s now happy receiving those. The place where you plant any plants are
important; their habitat depends on what kind of plant it is. For example, in
KY, there are plants grow during spring and summer and die during winter, but
they come back after winter; they are some you need to plant again. We had experienced planting okra and squash
and my mother always fails to make it grow. One time we were talking about
planting in the right spot because there’s a place in that small garden where plants
seldom grow. At the end we decided, not to plant on that corner; it’s not the
right spot.
Our lesson for today is titled,
“Blooming in the Right Spot” in Tagalog “Namumulaklak or Lumalago sa Tamang
Lugar”.
LESSON
OUTLINE:
1. BE SURE YOU ARE IN THE
RIGHT SPOT (1 CORINTHIANS 7: 18-20)
Are you blooming in the right spot? This is the question that we
needed to answer and I hope you could answer this after this lesson is done. But
before we proceed, I want your participation please. Answer my question, where you do think is your spot in the
ministry? This is FB live so write your comments. Don’t worry there’s no
wrong answers here (wait for comments and respond to their answers).
When you plant, you expect weeds to grow too. Weeds can grow anywhere. “A weed is any plant that grows where you
don’t want it.” My mother loves Spring because that is when she can plant a small vegetable
garden. When I was there, I enjoyed spending family time, planting, watering,
and weeding our little garden. There can be a lot of lessons learned from a
garden and one of those lessons I am thinking about is this: “Volunteered” plants that show up in the wrong spot. For example,
maybe a corn plant that “voluntarily” showed up in the strawberries. If you
don’t pull that corn plant out of the ground, it will choke out the
strawberries and rob them of water and nutrients. You see, human beings aren’t plants, we have our own minds and
God-given free will. But sometimes “us” humans try to bloom where God doesn’t
intend for us to be.
I know everyone knows about Jonathan in the Bible.
He’s the son of King Saul. What do you think would be in his mind when he heard
the news that his father, Saul the farmer, had been chosen to be the first King
of Israel? No doubt Jonathan’s mind was spinning as he was thinking what that
meant for him - all kinds of expectations for him. Jonathan must have
anticipated that as the prince, he would one day become the king. Aware of his
father’s weaknesses, familiar with his role as a farmer, and knowing that he
was not a soldier, Jonathan perhaps thought he would be king soon.
Have you experienced the dilemma of choosing the right
career or path you’re going to follow? I know there are some pastors, church
workers or any committed members who don’t quickly know their calling? Like
Moses, he had also some excuses and denials? In Jonathan’s situations, do you
think he had that kind of dilemma? Yes,
he himself I think had a confirmation in his mind that he would be the next
king but as years passed by, God wanted him to put in a place he didn’t choose
to be. Acts 13:21 mentioned that Saul reigned 40 years and imagine 40
years or less is enough that you can say “I would be the next king”; God’s will
be different from his. This lesson wants us to see that make sure you are in
the right spot because there are blessings blooming in the right spot.
In
1 Corinthians 7:18-21 say, “18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him
not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be
circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 Let every man abide in the same calling
wherein he was called.” Paul is saying that if you were circumcised when you became a Christian,
fine. If you were not circumcised when you became a Christian, fine also. Those
things do not matter. What matters is serving the Lord where we are at right
now. Another thing, Paul’s point isn’t really about
circumcision; that is just an example. Even as being circumcised or
uncircumcised is irrelevant when it comes to serving God, so is your current
marital state. He could just as easily say, and is saying by analogy, “Married is nothing and unmarried is nothing, but keeping the
commandments of God is what matters”.
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-corinthians-7/
2. DO WHAT’S RIGHT EVEN IT’S
HARD (1 PETER 3:14)
Jonathan is the first prince of Israel,
the son of the first king of Israel, Saul. As such was a leader in Israel and
part of the royal line which means he was heir to the throne. He likely had a higher education than most of
the people. He was skilled in war and lived at the royal court. He had great
leadership abilities and all the people looked down to him (1 Samuel 31: 1-6).
Why am I saying these? Jonathan had many things to give up and surrender. In
history, if a king had the possibility to be dethroned or his dynasty would be
in brink of falling, he would do anything to stop it. This was what happened to
King Saul. Let me ask you, what would be the feeling if you have a competitor
in the position? Most of the times you distance yourself and try your best to
be fit in the position. In Jonathan’s case is different; he befriended David. 1
Samuel 18: 3 says, “Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him
as his own soul”.
Not only the throne was the problem but
also Jonathan’s relationship between his father and his friend David. At first,
he was in thinking about knowing the truth about what really his father’s
intention to David; was he really wanted David to be killed? In 1 Samuel
20:31 says, “For as long as the son of Jesse
liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom.
Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die”.
1 Samuel 20: 4 says, “Then
said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for
thee”. This is one of the verses that confirmed that Jonathan was doing the
right thing. Another verse that will remind us about this is from 1 Peter
3:14 says, “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye:
and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;” If we suffer for doing the right thing even
when it is hard, be happy.
3. ACCEPT GOD’S DIRECTION AND
BE FLOURISHED (1 SAMUEL 20:15-18)
Jonathan submitted himself to the will of God, even
when it meant giving up his future kingdom. He didn’t pursue his own interest
or push his own way. Let’s think of ourselves at this time, have you made wrong
decisions in the past and you’ve realized now how stubborn you were in fighting
God’s way or will? Personally, I came also to the point that I was confused.
Somebody told me it’s God’s will, but my mind and my heart were struggling. My
question that time was “Why it took me so long to realize that this is not
God’s will for me or for us?” Possible reasons are we took granted the warnings
of the Lord and we were overwhelmed of our dreams.
Have you come to a point in your Christian life that
it’s hard accepting God’s will? Saul had seen the hands of God in
David’s life: he comforted him during his depressions, he fought the giant
triumphantly, he was a great warrior (many wars accomplished), and God saved
David’s life in many dangerous situations. Jealousy rooted in heart when David
became popular in the kingdom and all the people. Then Saul eyed David from
that day and forward. Though Saul knew the Lord had chosen David to be the next
king of Israel, still he spent the rest of his life hunting David – the rest of
his life. Saul’s life is a great reminder for us; this might happen to us in
fighting against God’s will. We won’t win and sad thing we die fighting the
wrong thing and still lost it (1 Samuel 18:8-9).
Let’s read 1 Samuel 23:15-18 15 And David saw that Saul was come
out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. 16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and
went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said unto him, Fear not:
for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king
over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father
knoweth. 18 And they two made a covenant
before the Lord:
and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
During those same years, with Saul trying to kill David and David
trying to escape, Jonathan found ways to meet his friend, to encourage him; to
reiterate his loyalty, his love. Chapter 23, verse 17, the prince once explains
to David, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; you
shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; even my father Saul
knows that.” This is the character of Jonathan, willingly giving up his own
claim to the throne because he understood that the Lord had chosen David
instead of him. No jealousy. This is a rare character quality, is it not?
Jonathan’s character is evident most clearly in his attitude toward David.
CONLUSION:
Some
would say that Jonathan gave up too much. But how would we prefer to be remembered?
Like the ambitious Saul, who clung to his kingdom ad lost it? Or the Jonathan,
who protected the life of a man who would become an honored ancestor of Jesus?
At
this moment there are questions we needed to answer in our minds: where were
you planted? Is it the place where God wants you to be?
God’s
plan is always better than our own. We can fight against it and resemble a
misplaced weed. Or we can accept His direction and become flourishing, fruitful
plants in His garden. He leaves the choice with us.
Whatever
place in the ministry you are in…. Be bloomed and flourished!
