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Themes: God's Unconditional Love R.O. More than one hundred years ago, a civil war took place between the people that lived in the northern part of the United States and those that lived in the southern part.
Like all the other wars, many sad things happened during the war because the people on both sides of the war so strongly believed that their own side was right and the other side was wrong. Many people died because they were so loyal to their army and many others suffered a lot because of the war. One story that happened during this war is very much like the story of David and his men that we learned about this week.
In one of the worst battles of the war, both sides fought for days without either one winning. Just when it seemed like the north was about to win the battle, the south would begin to fight harder again, and would come close to winning. For days and days, the battle kept going. Many soldiers got homesick and they all grew more tired with each near win and near loss. All the fighting was beginning to wear on everyone.
Sadly, many men died during the battle. Many were wounded badly but were not able to get to any place to have their wounds taken care of. Some simply did not have the strength while others were wounded too badly to move. To make a sad story even sadder, people who could help the wounded men could not get to them where they were. They too would have been shot and wounded or even killed if they if they went onto the battlefield. Several days into the battle, one southern soldier could no longer bear the sound of the faint cries for water that came from the wounded men. The problem was that if he went to take them water where they were, he would become an easy target for his enemies and would be shot at. He thought and thought and decided that he would risk his life to take them water.
Imagine how he must have felt as he gathered up containers of water to take to his fellow soldiers! He knew it would be the last time he ever saw the campsite where he lived, and that his life would soon be over. When he had all of the supplies he could carry, he climbed over the wall that protected his camp from the enemy camp. When the enemy saw him, they shot at him. As he tried to avoid the shots, he went from wounded soldier to wounded soldier to give them a drink of water. One man begged for a sip, and when the soldier looked, he saw that it was an enemy soldier! How could he give water to a person he was at war with? Without even hesitating, he bent down and gave the man a drink. At that moment, he went from the noble deed of helping friends to the amazing selflessness of helping an enemy.
By this time, enemy soldiers were close enough to see exactly what the southern soldier was doing. They were close enough to shoot at him and end his life, but what they saw made them stop short. The soldier's love to his enemy was so moving that the shooting stopped immediately. The soldier had risked everything for others, but he would get to see the campsite again.
Like the "mighty men" of our Bible story, this soldier showed amazing devotion by risking everything to bring a drink to men that he loved and knew. Even more amazing was the kindness he showed was to his enemies. In this way, his actions are like the Lord Jesus. Men treated the Lord Jesus like He wasn't even a human being; they spat on Him and hit Him and made fun of Him. Despite it all, he gave His life for us. That is truly the highest devotion and deepest love ever shown.
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Shelly McKenna
