God’s advice to David in 1 Samuel 30 was to pursue the Amalekites, overtake them and recover all that had been lost, which is what happened: ‘David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.’ (1 Sam 30:18-19) This is a picture for us of all that Christ has done for us on the cross.

Before we knew Christ, we were estranged from God, ‘dead in your transgressions and sin.’ (Eph 2:1) We were ‘by nature deserving of wrath.’ (Eph 2:3) The intimacy Adam and Eve knew in the Garden of Eden had been forfeited by their disobedience and the future was bleak. But in Christ we are now, as a result of God’s grace and love, reconciled to God and counted as His children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. (2 Cor 5:20-21, Romans 8:14-16) All that was stolen from us by the devil’s schemes and our disobedience has been returned to us. We now have a glorious future and can live our lives on earth to please God and to fulfil His plans for our lives.