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whatsoever things are noble – Philippians 4:8

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Kindness is blameless but nobility is tested every day. God is the one who knows the results of the test. Man-made rewards, medals and symbols are for the people. The real test is God’s. And if he is the one doing the testing, He is the one who does the rewarding.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3) God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19) The beauty of God’s reward is in His timing – we may never receive recognition in this life, or see the fruits of our labour.

Saul was Israel’s first king. He was a king chosen by people and approved by God. He was the tallest man in Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin. God sent him to Samuel, who anointed him king over Israel. He didn’t have to do anything to become a king. He didn’t have an opposition, he didn’t have to be a hero or fight any battles to prove his nation that he deserves to be a king. He wasn’t even born as an heir of a king.

The love of his nation turn out to be superficial. The people were obedient, but not necessarily loyal. His army loved his son, Israelite women praised David’s accomplishments more than his, and even the nanny of his grandson stumbled with baby Mephibosheth, leaving him lame for life. Saul fought many battles, but his life was full of insecurities, confusion, mistrust, people-pleasing, crises etc. The transition of power from his house to David’s came with betrayal from all sides, his daughter Micah was left childless, and his sons were hanged on polls.

Paul, another Benjaminites, was what we might consider an old man, living in obscurity under the rulership of Rome. He was an educated man, a Roman citizen, and a persecutor of the early church under the political direction of Herod the Great. He was not known by the vast population of the Roman Empire, his name didn’t come to the light of Cesar’s. We don’t know his last name. He traveled, spent quality time in a prison cell, and ended up beheaded, leaving behind a few letters to the church. He might have been buried in a mass grave. We don’t know if he had a wife or children. He was a mysterious man whose only purpose was to tell others about a man called Jesus.

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Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

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