When King David was still a boy looking after his fathers sheep he spent his time practicing with his sling.
Anything was a target – until he became expert at hitting any target before him. So when a lion and a bear attacked the sheep and later Goliath attacked God’s people he was ready for action.
I remember years ago as a young teenager having Sunday lunch at a friends house. Being bored we decided to go for a walk around the block. We loaded our pockets with rock hard little green apples off a neighbors tree, and set off in search of some action.
Just as we came to a corner a small fluffy dog ran furious out of a house intent on attack.
Instinctively I hurled one of my little green apples at the fast approaching wild animal.
The apple passed between the dogs front legs and after hitting the turf rose sharply to take out middle stump. In an instant the dog’s barking turned to wild screams and with a Herculean leap the dog went over the low side fence and around the corner. The screams continued down the road at an ever increasing pitch.
As we rounded the corner we discovered the dog’s owners saying farewell to some friends and as we approached we heard them asking one another – whatever could be wrong with Fluffy.
The lesson for today is that you must practice before the battle to be victorious in the fight.
David defeated his enemies through practice. I am still alive today because of practice.
