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1 Kings 20:10&11: Unsinkable

Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to King Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful.”

The king Ahab of Israel answered, “Tell him: ‘One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.’”

My youngest daughter and I were on another ferry boat today. I have just returned to the Island again and am now remembering the pleasures of travelling back-and-forth on the BC Ferries. The camp that I just dropped my youngest at requires four ferry rides round trip.

On one of these ferry rides my daughter -being funny- said, ''we should say this boat is unsinkable and then it would sink and we would have to row to shore."

She was referring, of course, to the bragging made about the ship Titanic before its maiden voyage. The ship was said to be unsinkable and so before the ship set sail a crew member or some other such person was asked by a reporter or someone else whether the ship really was unsinkable and he replied, “God Himself could not sink this ship!”

In the story in 1 Kings 20, an invading king warns another king that he is about to destroy him. The other king replied ‘One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.’

This is the same for us. We need to try to make the best ships and other projects in life that we possibly can. We need to train our armies, employees, students, and children as best we can. We need to work diligently in all that we do. We need to not forget, however, that it is God who is ultimately in control. We should not boast before completing a task as if it is fait accompli. Anything can happen.

Instead we should keep pressing ahead and when wee do come out the other side rather than boasting, we should thank the Lord for all He does for us and continue on.
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