King David’s son Absalom had murdered his half-brother Amnon in revenge for the rape of his sister Tamar. After years of exile, David consented to have Absalom returned to Jerusalem, through the persistence of his Army general, Joab. Absalom then lived in Jerusalem for two years but was not allowed to see his father. He asked Joab to intercede for him, but Joab would not, so Absalom had his servants set fire to Joab’s barley field, to get Joab’s attention, and it worked. After seeing Absalom, Joab went to David, and finally David summoned Absalom for an audience. Absalom had done something drastic to get the attention of Joab and David, and he eventually got what he wanted, an audience with his father. This is all found in 2 Samuel, chapters 13 and 14.
And possibly after years of trying to get your attention, God may do something drastic to get an audience with you. As you go along in life fulfilling your own desires and taking care of Number 1, God will try to draw your attention from time to time to get you away from the worldly pleasures you so enjoy, and get you into His fold.
There are many ways He can do this, either through circumstances, Bible Scriptures, fulfilled prophecy, inspiration etc. He knows what your future is, and He knows the path you are taking now will lead to an eternity in Hell. He has given you a free will, but being a loving God He will try to change your path, as He wants all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). You may ignore all these callings of God for many years and just keep going your merry old way to Hell. But God is persistent and after using up His timetable for your conversion, He may draw your attention in a drastic and unmistakable manner, He will burn your barley field. This could be in the form of sickness, a fatal disease, a great loss of material possessions, tragedy in the family, etc. Whatever the situation is, it will make you come to the conclusion that He is the only one who can help you. It will get you to realize that there is no one left, but God, to go to for help. As the saying goes, "there are no atheists in foxholes."
The idea here is to realize there is a Heaven and there is a Hell. If you know or suspect your lifestyle is leading you to Hell, then you are receiving warnings from God. Change your lifestyle now before your barley field is burned. A quick way to do this is to say this simple prayer, confessing to Jesus that you know that you are a sinner and that you know that He is the Son of God who has the power to forgive sin. Ask Him to come into your life and guide you.
If Absalom burned a barley field to get his father’s attention, how much more will your Heavenly Father do to get your attention? Don’t wait to find out.
By George Konig
Christian Internet Forum
www.georgekonig.org
February 1, 2004
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