60IN60 Day 29 - Mon July 31

It's Day 29 and we're in 1 Samuel 25.

One reason to be in the Bible regularly? It provides the answers to life's most pressing questions: "Why am I here?" "What value does my life have?" "What does God want out of me?" "What does a life well spent look like?" For all the time we spend daily on trivial things, it's essential that we spend some time on the big questions. 

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 18 - It's hard to overestimate the value of a good wife.

Help:
- Verse 8 - It would have been customary back then to reward such behavior.  It's not a "shake-down."  Hospitality generally was much more important in that culture than it is in our's.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

Your Questions and Comments:

- "I’ve always been confused about why in 1 Samuel 17:58 Saul asks David who his father is while in the chapter before 1 Samuel 16:18-22 Saul talks to Jesse to have David work for him. Is it just to reiterate the lineage or something like that?" - We are not specifically told, but there are a number of possible explanations. One you've mentioned: the writer of the passage is emphasizing the lineage of David, who has been anointed king and will one day rule as king. A second option is that Saul has David around playing the harp (16:14-23) in a fairly menial role. Because of that, Saul hasn't been paying very much attention to him. David is just one of many servants attending in various ways to Saul. After the incredible victory over Goliath, David is thrust front and center. Saul knows who David is (the guy who plays harp) but doesn't remember who his father is (since David was just one of many servants). Saul asks because David has increased in importance. A third and final option is that, having seen the military prowess that David has shown, Saul asks about David's father because Saul is hoping David has some brothers who are also impressive militarily. (Of course, Saul actually has some of David's brothers in his army, but they were cowering before Goliath like the rest of the Israeli army.) My preference is for option two.

- "A man who has been divorced, says 'all of my sins have been forgiven (per salvation), so why can't I be a deacon?' Not ordaining a divorced man as deacon is not a 'punishment' for past sin.  How would you explain this to said person? Also, why do churches seem to focus on this one thing when it comes to deacons? There are other qualities a deacon needs to possess. And deacons wives?  There's things in scriptures about them too, but seems like the wife isn't even considered. And I've known some wives that should have negated their spouses ordination." - Good questions. I'll take them one at a time. First question: divorce and disqualification. As you know, there are a variety of views on this in various churches. Some will not allow a man to be a deacon if he's ever been divorced. Some will not allow a man to be a deacon if he was divorced after getting saved. Some will make the determination based on whether the divorce was Biblically justified. Some don't consider divorce in whether someone can be a deacon. To use a simple scenario, if the man was divorced for a reason that isn't Biblically justified (say, he had an affair) and that happened after he was a Christian, he needs to realize that while God can forgive sin, there are still consequences to our sins. Second question, why do some churches focus on only divorce when it comes to choosing deacons? I agree that is a shallow approach. The Bible gives us an entire list of qualifications for being a deacon and it's important churches consider the whole list. Third question, what about deacons' wives? Yes, that should be something that is considered in the decision to ordain a deacon, but, like you said, often the additional qualifications are ignored.