Thursday, January 5, 2017

Jesus -- Our Bodyguard

Jesus our bodyguard
“But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.” (Psalm 3:3)
Usually only wealthy or prominent people hire bodyguards such as presidents, celebrities, mob bosses, famous athletes, and kings. Most of us can hardly imagine having someone walking by our side every day of the year watching, guarding, and protecting us. Without our even being aware of his presence, we have the Lord Jesus walking beside us as our bodyguard. He has a multitude of guardian angels who are assigned to help to manage our security.
   If only I had known of this protection as a child, what a difference it might have made. I was harassed, bullied, chased, pushed, beaten and berated from the time I stared school until about the age of fourteen. It took a long time for me to build up the courage to say, “Enough is enough” and defend myself.
   David was clearly in the need of a bodyguard. His son, Absalom spent hours and days building up support to overthrow his father, the king. He was handsome, a smooth talker, and a gifted liar who knew how to please the people and steal their hearts. (2 Sam. 15:1-6).
   Why had God allowed this disgraceful uprising? It was part of the consequences of David’s adulterous sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. God in his grace forgave David when he confessed, but he reaped bitter family problems – death of his son born to Bathsheba and rape of his daughter Tamar and the final death of his sons Ammon, Absalom, and Adonijah.
   Like David, we often suffer hardships of our own making or from the actions of others, but we can say with confidence that God is our shield. David’s faith and dependence was in the Lord. We, too, can cry out to God, like David did, and know that he will answer us. (Ps. 3:4) Our Savior, the Lord Jesus, is our bodyguard and walks beside us through all the storms of life.
   Do you daily trust in Jesus -- your bodyguard?
Prayer: Dear Lord, I need you, Lord Jesus, to be my bodyguard – watch over me.

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