One of my favorite people in the Bible is David and because of His sensitivity to God, he became the best king Israel ever had.  David was chosen by God when he was a young man to become the King of Israel after Saul disobeyed God.  David started out as a shepherd boy but later became a mighty warrior and eventually King of Israel.   Any good leader will tell you they do not become great alone – they surround themselves with like-minded people who are faithful and committed to making their leader successful.  One individual who was totally committed to David was a man we hear very little about.  His name was Eleazar.  In one battle, after all the other warriors had left, Eleazar remained with David and the Bible says that “He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword.” The Bible tells us that the location of this battle is believed to be in the same area where David had defeated Goliath.  This place seems to have been a place where many battles took place for Israel.  Here is a lesson for us to learn; the enemy will often take us back to old battlegrounds; places where he’s held us up in the past; places where he might have even won a battle or two.  Maybe the devil takes you to that place of doubt, that place of fear, that place of lack of faith inside of you.  But when Satan tries to take you to those places just take him back to Calvary; the place where he was defeated by the blood of Jesus.

It’s important to note that Eleazar kept fighting even when he was weary.  Sometimes we will grow weary when we are in a fight; sometimes we will lose strength.  For you and me there are things that we must be willing to fight for like the preservation of God’s Word and not let Satan take our religious freedom away from us.  Also, it’s important to note that he fought for his king, just as we are to fight for our King.  Eleazar was alone in battle. There comes a time when each of us are required to stand alone in the battle.  The battle that we all fight in our lives is when God requires change; change must come if we are going to see victory.  These changes cannot be worked out in a crowd. These changes must be worked out between ourselves and God alone.

Each of us is called to serve our King to the best of our ability no matter what the battlefield is: whether it is restocking shelves in grocery store or managing a Fortune 500 company.  Standing firm and serving our King even when everyone else is running in the opposite direction is what God’s mighty men and women do.  Eleazar had something that he could not let go of – his sword. His hand became part of his sword. The battle was so intense that he and his sword became one. That is a powerful example for us today.  Put the Word in you so that it will come out of you in the heat of the battle!Eleazor was willing to draw his sword and fight with or without any support.  He didn’t look around to see who was still standing.  Your responsibility is not diminished because other people turn back; rather you should rise to the occasion and close the gap.  Remember, only 20% of the people will do 80% of the work.  Spiritual strength is a test of greatness.  Greatness is shown when you are able to go one more step when you are fighting the biggest challenge of your life.

Think about this:

For every failure in the Bible, there is a victory

For every Cain, there is an Abel

For every Saul, there is a David

For every Judas, there is a Jonathan

For every Pit, there is a Palace.

Refuse to let go of your sword!