NIV Once-A-Day Bible Men And Women Of The Bible DevotionalSample

WE MATTER TO GOD Chosen for her youth and beauty, Abishag found herself one day the live-in nurse of the great but old King David. Her job was to keep the king warm. Within months her patient had died. We know little about their relationship except that they never had sex. Soon after David’s death, Abishag became a bargaining chip in the power struggle between his sons, Solomon and Adonijah, and his widow, Bathsheba. For Adonijah, Abishag was probably little more than a possible angle to renew his claim on the throne of David. Bathsheba, herself acquainted with being treated as an object, may have been trying to do Abishag a favor as well as to pacify Adonijah. Solomon gave his half-brother no room for doubt. He assumed Adonijah was planning to use Abishag to fight for the throne. The behavior of all three family members makes one fact clear: no one cared what Abishag thought. She might as well have been listed with the furniture. There are many situations in life in which people are sometimes treated as objects — ​both on purpose and in ignorance. In fact, you may occasionally be hurt by such treatment. Family members may withhold appreciation. Co-workers may treat you like just another office machine. Resist these invitations to hopelessness or resentment by remembering that God knows your true worth. He knows you intimately and will always treat you as the specially created person you are. PRAYER Father, thank you for your love . . . READ Abishag’s story is told in 1 Kings 1:1 – 4; 2:13 – 24.