A Cause Worth Living For

We are all living for someone or something. Some live for money, some for pleasure, some for careers, and some simply for self, but the Christian has been given a cause greater than this life: the glory of Jesus Christ. In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath came out morning and evening for forty days to defy the army of Israel, and Israel's soldiers sat still, dismayed and greatly afraid. They had the equipment, the king, and the Lord, but they had lost sight of what they were fighting for. When young David heard the giant's mocking, he recognized that this was a battle for the glory of God and asked, "Is there not a cause?" His own brother ridiculed him and King Saul doubted him, but the cause had been settled in David's heart long before, in private walks with the Lord as a shepherd. He laid aside Saul's armor, went in the name of the LORD of hosts, and proved his conviction by running toward the battle. God used one young man's faithfulness to raise a defeated army back to its feet, and David standing before the king with Goliath's head pictures a cause carried faithfully all the way to completion. As camp meeting approaches, this message calls the church to awaken to the cause of Christ and live for it every day.