“Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road; so that as the troops came up, they all halted there. When the man saw that all the people were standing still, he dragged ‘Amasa off the road into the field and threw a cloak over him.”-2 Samuel 20:12
Once Joab had disposed of Amasa, the men resumed their pursuit of Sheva.
One of Joab’s men called out to the militia that Amasa had gathered and told them to join Joab’s men.
The point being that whoever was on Joab’s side was really on David’s side.
So, Amasa or no Amasa, the mission would continue.
There was one problem, however.
Amasa’s blood-spattered corpse was still lying there on the road.
With the body’s guts spilling out of its stomach, it must’ve been quite a gruesome sight, indeed.
In fact, it was so spine-chilling that it froze the militia dead in its tracks.
They stopped and stared at the corpse as if stuck in a trance.
As they stood there gazing at the massacre Joab had inflicted upon Amasa, fear began to overtake them.
The men suddenly realized…
“Oh my God, we could end up dead, just like this Amasa, in the battle we’re about to fight.”
To prevent a mass panic attack from occurring, one of Joab’s battle-worn soldiers seized control of the situation.
He dragged Amasa’s corpse off the road and covered it with a cloak so it would be out of sight.
This leads us to our takeaway.
It is this:
What we focus on becomes our reality and will overtake us…unless we shift our gaze.
If you focus on the negative and all the terrible things that could happen to you…
Like the militia did, who stared at Amasa’s corpse, imagining they would end up like him…
The fear will become so intense that it will prevent you from taking any action.
So as the Scripture exhorts us to do…
Keep your focus on God, His love and His wisdom.
If you do that, then it will be the Lord’s power that will manifest in your life.
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things.”
— Philippians 4:8
“Looking unto Yeshua
the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross…”
— Hebrews 12:2
“For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace.”
— Romans 8:6
“But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid;
and beginning to sink,
he cried, saying,
Lord, save me.”
— Matthew 14:30
“The light of the body is the eye:
if therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.”
— Matthew 6:22–23
“Set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth.”
— Colossians 3:2
A means of self-improvement which I remember from my youth (just a little after the earth cooled) was called Visualization.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it is still used, especially in sports.
The idea is you concentrate and visualize, in your mind, the result you want to achieve.
If at bat in baseball, you see yourself hitting a home run; if golfing, you see your perfect swing hitting the ball into the hole.
I add this to your lesson as a confirmation that what we see in our mind, we subconsciously perform with our body.
Spiritually, when we listen to non-believers giving us alternate reasons for the things that happened in the Bible, we are visualizing miraculous events as simple cause and effect, instead of faifthfully seeing God behind those events.
For example, some scientists say that the Nile turning to blood was due to some red fungus that floated downstream. OK, maybe so, but where did the red fungus come from?
And how did Moses and Aaron know it would appear just at that moment?
Your point, Rich, is absolutely essential to maintain the proper spiritual awareness and emotional attitude- what we see affects what we do, so look with spiritual eyes.
Thanks for your comment.
It touched me and strongly reinforced the contents of this post.