Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

16 April 2024

Reading From I Samuel 25-27

“Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.

A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.”

–I Samuel 25:1-3

     Middle Eastern culture is not known for its value of women, but the Bible records that Elohim created both men and women in His very image.  Woman are highly valued by God and should be honored equally with men by those who follow Him.  In the Scriptures we see glimpses of how God elevates women even in the midst of a brutal and largely chauvinistic human culture.  The story of Abigail is one such glimpse.

     I find it particularly remarkable that the first thing the Word of God says about Abigail is that she was intelligent.  Next it says that she was beautiful.  Her qualities were in stark contrast with those of her husband who it seems was a very unpleasant and nasty man.  The fact that her intelligence was noted before her physical qualities I think is so wonderful because in a culture where women were objectified as property used for lust, household duties, and child bearing, God champions Abigail’s amazing mind. 

“God, I pray that godly men, including myself, would honor women as You show us in Your Word that they are to be honored.  Give us the wisdom to value others not for what they can do for us or bring to our lives, but for who they are.  Your works are magnificent and women are one of Your most extraordinary creations.  I pray that men would be grateful for the ladies in our lives and not take them for granted.  Continue to show us how You love and cherish women and value the integral role they have in Your Kingdom and eternal family.  Amen.”

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

–Ephesians 5:25-28

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. –Galatians 3:28