“But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he [Solomon] will have one tribe.” (1 Kings 11:32)
Expanded Passage: 1 Kings 11:29-33
The five of us, all kids of missionary or pastor parents, huddled around a single book trying to read it all at once. It would have been easier for one person to read aloud, yet impatience to get the borrowed book read before the end of our mission trip trumped such reasoning. Besides, reading it out loud seemed scandalous. We were privileged to be on this mission work trip, and were not here to read a book late into the night, even if it was a Christian book. We were also supposed to be sleeping since the lights had already been turned out. If not scandalous, then we were impertinent at the very least.
I looked around at my comrades’ faces in the shadows as the flashlight lit up the words on the page. Our commonality built an immediate bond, less of a friendship and more of an understanding of the responsibility we shared as children whose parents were in the ministry.
We had a sense that serving was a privilege. Yet, I remember the knowing glances we exchanged after discovering that this opportunity had come our way because of our parents’ roles. Their calling and sacrifices as servants of God had provided us, their kids, something spectacular that few others got to experience. Similarly, David’s legacy of being a servant of God brought a coverage for his son Solomon even after David had passed away.
Thank someone who has invested in you as a servant of God.
Sarah Cochran received an MDiv from Wesley Seminary and is an ordained Wesleyan pastor in the Florida District. She and her husband, Tom, work for an agency rescuing kids from trafficking.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
