Pour It Out Before the Lord

"At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, 'Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!' So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead he poured it out before the Lord. 'God forbid that I should do this!' he said. 'Should I drink the blood of these men who went to risk their lives?' Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men." 1 Chronicles 11:16-19

I read this the other morning and it really struck me. I am the type of person who likes to please people. I thought of the three men first. What if I had been one of them? Picture this: your boss asks for something he really needs, and while difficult, you risk everything - even your very life - to give it to him, only for him not to take it after all that. I think I may have been furious! (There again, I guess it depends on your relationship with your boss). If my husband asked me for a drink of water in the middle of the night and I went downstairs to get it only for him to pour it out when I got back, I think I'd be upset. Let alone if I had risked my life to get it!

But, then I thought about David. David was a man after God's heart, and God promised to establish his throne forever, even bringing Jesus as one of his descendants. While David did commit sin in his life, for the most part he obeyed God's commands and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. We know that he was thirsty. We know he desperately wanted the drink. But, when it was brought back to him, what did he do? The verse tells us: "But he refused to drink it; instead he poured it out before the Lord" (verse 18).

In thinking of my own battle with weight loss, there may be times that I need to have an awkward moment where I tell someone "no thanks" after they've made something delicious for me. I may have to tell them that God forbid me to have it. I also think there are things that may be okay in certain circumstances (after all, God certainly doesn't have a problem with us drinking water!), but God may require us to say 'no.' We may have already had enough to eat, we may still be hungry and yet it's not the right thing for us at the time, or it may be for another reason that we have to 'refuse' it.

David poured out the drink before the Lord. I think this was an act of worship to God, telling the Lord that He meant more to David than anything, even the very water he thirsted for. Food has somehow made its way up my priority list in life, as comfort, as social fun, etc. But, as I'm struggling to lose some weight and glorify God with my body, I'm going to need to lay it down before the Lord and worship Him instead. May God be honored by this action, and may those around us understand our need for refusal.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for this piece of Scripture. Thank You for Your insight into our weight loss battle. God, we long to honor You today. Help us pour out before You whatever we need to; help us refuse what we're supposed to refuse. Give us the strength to worship You alone and not food. God, may we instead thirst for more of You. We love You! Help us be healthy and thin for Your glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN!