Irvin Wasswa
Tylertown Campus Pastor
1 Kings 21:1-3
21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
For me, growing up in Dallas, TX means that I am a huge Dallas-area sports teams fan. Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Dallas Cowboys (NFL), and Texas Rangers (MLB). Being a Dallas-Area fan is tough since they haven’t won much but in 2011, the Dallas Mavericks shocked the world by upsetting the big, bad Miami Heat (a team that we hated) and winning a championship!
A few years later I had the opportunity to go to Miami on a mission trip with our BCM and during our break we had the chance to go watch the Miami Heat play! After the game a few of my friends and I ran into a guy who was giving away Miami Heat jackets for those who subscripted to New York Times Magazine. Now mind you, I was not a Heat fan at all. My allegiance was to the Dallas Mavericks.. but the jackets were really cool and the deal was too good to pass up. For $7.99 I decided to sell out my team and represent the Heat by wearing the jacket.
In 1 Kings 21 the character Naboth was in a similar position where he was faced with the option to choose to sell out the Lord. The wicked King Ahab offered Naboth a lot of money for his little vineyard that he had. The thing though was according to the Law of Moses it was forbidden that God’s people sold land which they inherited from their descendants (Lev.25:10-24). In other words, if Naboth were to agree to sell his land to the king, he would be directly disobeying God. Though the offering price was tempting, Naboth declined the offer and chose to instead live in obedience to the Lord and His word.
May we choose to follow Naboth’s example as we walk with Jesus. Whatever the price tag being offered to you to sell out the Lord and your testimony IS NOT WORTH IT! King Jesus is worth so much more than what this world offers and what our flesh desires. He is worthy of our life and our obedience. Let me encourage you that in times of temptation choose to submit to Him. Let us choose to follow Naboth’s example and stand for the Lord. Don’t be a sellout, stand for Jesus today and every day!