MIGHTY MEN OF VALOR
The world has created its own fantasy of what brave, mighty, tough, and successful men look like.
We all think of the man’s man. Who can’t but think of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood and “make my day.” Or our mind immediately thinks of men like Bruce Willis of Die Hard fame, or Steven Seagal.
The Scriptures, too, talk about the man’s man. They look tough and they are tough. They are true Die Hard kind of men.
The Bible describes them as “mighty me of valor.” They were men who for the most part surrounded David. They were men who would risk their very lives for him. They were loyal. They were skilled. They were mighty men who could inspire and challenge him. They were mighty men who would be there for him, stand up for him, fight for him.
They were men ready for an adventure…a combination of “combat commandos,” “stealth rangers,” and “navy seals.”
Time after time on fields of battle they were “the last men standing.”
Several of them are singled out in 2 Samuel 23. There is Eleazar, who, when everyone else retreated from the field of battle, stood his ground in a battle with the Philistines, “till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.” Wow. Talk about commitment, determination, and loyalty. He had such a grip on his sword in the midst of battle that his sword literally became one with him.
And then there was Shammah who stood alone in a field of lentils defending it against the Philistines.
Once David was feeling homesick, and he wished out loud that someone would bring him a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem. Three of the mighty men heard his wish and decided to go retrieve some of David’s favorite water.
The Bible says that they broke through the Philistine garrison at Bethlehem to retrieve a drink of water, and David, recognizing the tremendous sacrifice these men had made, felt unworthy to drink it. Instead, he poured it out on the ground as an offering to the Lord.
And who can forget Benaiah the man who killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
Of course, the one they followed, David, was also known as a mighty man of valor. (I Samuel 16:18) Even as a young teenage boy, he had earned this testimony. Even before he became a public figure, and while still tending sheep on a hillside, he was known as “David – man of valor.”
What the world needs today is a company of “mighty men and women of valor,” through whom God will do great things, and through whom God will inspire others as well.
We need men who are not frightened by the odds which appear stacked against them. Men and women who rise up in times of crisis, refuse to give in when things got tough and go above and beyond the call of duty, out of faith, loyalty, and love and desire to please the Savior whom they serve.
The great need today is for men. Real men. Men of character. Men that will stand. Men of strength. Mighty men of valor…of courage who will do what is right and stand with their God. Real men love Jesus.
Today ask God to show you what living courageously looks like in your life. And, secondly, why not thank God for those men (and women) who have been examples of valor, or courage, in your life. Happy Father’s Day!