BE A MAN!
People often mock political correctness and the use of non-offending words. Words have to be chosen so sensitively today and rightly so, because words often have hidden, just below their surface, some lurking hurtful prejudices or offensive undertones. Some old axioms no longer work. Is it still okay for a father to say to his son: “Son, be a man?”
The old king was dying. He had reigned for 40 years. The Bible refers to him as a man after God’s own heart. He wasn’t perfect and he had some failures but no one could argue with the record of his life from his teen years to his death. His overarching motivation was to honour the Lord and please God. Now he was passing on the baton of his reign (or the scepter) to his son Solomon. Old King David called his son to his side and said:
“I am about to go the way of all the earth.
Be strong, and show yourself a man,
and keep the charge of the LORD your God,
walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments,
his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses,
that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn…”
(1King 2:2-3)
Son, you will be pressured from every angle to compromise and cave in to the wishes and the will of the people or segments of the population. Your popularity will be threatened and people will wave opinion polls in your face trying to force you to change direction or abandon what you know to be right. Be strong; be a man. The criticisms of your beliefs will be sharp and cutting. The ridicule of your convictions will almost become a sport – but son, don’t cave into the pressure. Be a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God. And that’s not all.
The pressures and temptations to swerve off course will not only come from outside you and around you; perhaps the worst of all pressures you will deal with will come from inside. I don’t mean inside our country or even inside the palace – I mean from inside your own heart. You will have everything at your fingertips in your position of power and wealth as king. There is a real danger of you becoming proud and arrogant, thinking you are invincible and nothing can bring you down. What lurks in your heart, son, and in mine as well, has the potential to do you in and to wreck your usefulness for God and tragically cause you to end your days in disgrace. Walk in God’s ways. Keep His commandments. Stand up for what is right and keep away from all that is wrong. Be strong. Be a man. Have a backbone. If you stand for nothing, son, you will fall for anything.
That was the amplified version of King David’s death-bed charge to his son Solomon. You can read the story of Solomon’s life and judge for yourself how strong he was and how well he followed his father’s counsel.
It is just as hard for us today to stand for what we believe and to resist the pressures to compromise and to say ‘No!’ to the temptations around us and within us. But if you want to prosper in God’s eyes, you will have to be strong. You will have to say no to others and no to yourself and yes to God. It is the only formula for successful Christian living.
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today,
Peter Ramsay