Eternal Servant**

Scripture:
2 Samuel 15:21 "But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be."

Observation:
There's all this drama in David's family in chapters 14 and 15. Amnon 'violates' Tamar (who I assume is the full-blooded sibling of Absolom) and so gets murdered. Absolom flees, but Joab (knowing the heart of King David) reaches out to him and brings him back to Jerusalem. From there Absolom devises a plan to suck up to the other tribes to call himself king. David then has to flee with all of his servants following him*.  David then tells Ittai he can stay because Ittai only became a servant the previous day, and David didn't even know where they were headed. Instead Ittai responded with the verse quoted above and thus they all fled into the wilderness.

Application:
This Ittai shows an amazing, valiant display of loyalty and conviction. He's new. He didn't ask for this (as I'm assuming to servant does), and he was a Philistine (which I'm also assuming meant he didn't believe in God). He was given the chance to serve Absolom and stay alive but instead he has committed his life to the Lord and to his lord, David. Death doesn't scare him. He has made his choice and he boldly follows through. He is strong in his word, and doesn't turn back. In all things that God calls me to do, or in the decisions I make, conviction is going to be key. I want to be able to say "this was my decision, I'm sticking with it" and have complete faith and trust that He provides an out if things go array. I want to boldly follow Him in things that are 'new' for old doesn't mean better.  There shall be no turning back; just steadfast faithfulness and loyalty. Semper Fi. Above that I want to learn about servanthood from Ittai. He was given an out. Instead he chose to stay committed to his master. That's incredible.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
I pray that you give me the strength to be decisive and the courage to follow through with my decisions having no doubts because of the trust I have in you. I pray that my servanthood doesn't waiver just because it's an option. I want that dedication and loyalty Ittai has, but to my King, my Lord. Let me always be your servant. In your name I pray,
Amen.


*The idea of servants/slavery is still confusing but the way David treated his 'servants' was interesting to me in this passage. He showed genuine care for Ittai in the verses directly leading up to the one above.

**The title of this is also a future blog post in itself! Serving is the outflow of love that Jesus showed. It is important.