With his whole being he loved his Maker and daily had his praises sung.

Today’s reading from Sirach speaks about the legendary David.  You have to wonder where the legends and reality of David’s life story meet.   As the reading states, “He made sport of lions as though they were kids, and of bears, like lambs of the flock.”  The marvels of David seem ceaseless, and yet we know of his human weakness and mistakes. His humanness and love of God is why David stands out in the reading and as a biblical hero.  We can identify with David’s mistakes and turning away from God, but we can also identify with his repentance.  We too can identify a time in our lives where we strayed from God following our own desires.  We can also embrace David’s love for God.  That love is burning in each of us.  We may experience God’s love with more intensity at times, but it does live in our being.  That love urges us to strive to become closer to God, to follow Christ, and to live with discomforts in hopes of spreading God’s love. 

The trap that I fall into is being hesitant about living out of that burning love God has placed in my heart.  I find myself conforming to cultural norms, others’ expectations and a hurried pace of life.  I often only allow a flicker of God’s love into my day.  I tell myself that I’m too busy or holding back because it isn’t appropriate to fully live in God’s love.  In reality, I’m scared of being different and standing out.  Just look at David and how silly he appeared.  At times he appeared to be drunk on God’s love.  The scriptures paint many ridiculous scenes of David expressing love for God.  This is precisely why David is my hero.  He allowed his love of God to be known and to shape a culture of people.  He loved God with his whole being and made that known.

John the Baptist also lived out of his love for God and was ridiculed for it.  His passion to live and speak out of that love led him to his death.  We have images of John declaring the word of God up until the moment of his death. 

Today we have two models of burning faith.  Not trendy faith or faith that desires to fit in, rather faith that stands forward and cries out with the love of God.  I pray that you and I may live a little closer to these models today, that we release our control, fan the flames of our faith, and allow God’s love to overcome our lives.

Today let us be touched by God’s spirit like David and John, so that we cannot help but declare with our whole being, “Blessed be God my salvation!”