How many of you know the story of Benaiah? The Bible character?
It’s okay if you don’t–not much is said about him. Perhaps twenty verses talk about him. We know that he was one of David’s mighty men, that he was the son of a “valiant man”, that he killed “two lionlike men of Moab”, that he killed an Egyptian by taking and using the Egyptian’s spear, and that he killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
Wait, what?
Exactly. The last part of 2 Samuel 23:20 simply says, “…he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow” (KJV).
How did he meet up with the lion? Who started chasing who first? Did the lion fall in the pit and Benaiah go after it, or did Benaiah fall in the pit and the lion jump in to get a meal? Was there a reason why Benaiah killed it (like, it killed someone else and Benaiah wanted to destroy it before it killed again), or was it just like “Hey, there’s a lion; I’m gonna kill it”?
I don’t know. But I do know that that took some guts!
And people have used this story as an example of how we should chase after our dreams and go do things and live with abandon (within biblical boundaries).
…there comes a moment when you have to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.
Mark Batterson, “Chase the Lion” devotional plan
The purpose of life is not to arrive safely at death. Not to live carefully, avoiding taking risks. Not to be so scared of getting hurt or messing up big-time that you barely do anything. That’s not what life’s about, y’all!
we are not born to die!! … yes, we are born with the inevitable fate of death, we are mortal after all, but that is merely the finale of the play!! the final act, the closing of the curtains – we are not born to take a bow and exit stage left!! we are born to love and be joyous and yell and move and learn and cry and feelfeelfeel!!! we are not born to die, silly, we’re born to live!!!
from Pinterest
We’re born to live. To enjoy life. Not to “arrive safely at death.”
God has plans for us–each one of us. Those plans vary from person to person. . . but I’m willing to bet they all take some guts on our part. Because sometimes we got to go after those plans; we have to step out and do stuff and obey whatever God’s telling us.
Yeah, it’s scary. Yeah, it might not make much sense to others (or even to you all the time). But if it’s God’s will, well, why not? Why not go after that dream? Why not do this thing? Why not take some risks? Why not chase that “lion”?
By the way, lions can leap up to 36 feet away (about the length of a school bus) and run as fast as 50 mph (for short distances). So chasing a lion isn’t the easiest thing ever.
Neither is chasing dreams. Sometimes it might seem like they’re just leaping away, getting further and further from you, your chances of accomplishing them dwindling rapidly.
But if God wants you to “catch that lion,” you will! And you won’t regret it.
So let’s go chase some lions, y’all. š
Hi Julie! I really was blessed by “Chasing the lions”. It can be easy, at our age, to just put it in neutral and wait for the exit. I don’t want that! I want to live alive until the last day! There is so much Kingdom work to do! Thank you for writing!
You’re welcome!
I feel like “putting it in neutral” can happen at any age; yes, perhaps especially for, erm, older people š, but even for teens (at least me) it’s easy to make excuses–“Oh, I’m too young,” “Oh, I have plenty of time to do that,” etc. And I don’t want that either! There is something that each of us can do–for His glory.
Thanks for commenting!