Incentives

“‘Have you seen the giant?’ the men were asking. ‘He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!’”
I Samuel 17:25, NLT

Talk about an incentive program! Kill the giant and get the King’s daughter and tax exemption for the rest of your life. It’s got me looking for a sling and five smooth stones myself.

The first King of Israel understood the power of incentives more than 1,000 years before God became a man via The Man Christ Jesus. What really fascinates me about this story is that only one person took advantage of the King’s incentive program. Sure, there were risks in the King’s proposal, but there were also huge rewards for the successful, and David was determined to be successful.

He was no fool, but realized that conventional methods weren’t the answer for this job. Here was a man, wise beyond his years, smart enough to not believe it couldn’t be done, but instead looked for new methods for Giant Killing. The old ways weren’t working anymore, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be done. He just had to figure out how, and figure it out he did.

It’s amazing what the right incentives just might inspire us to accomplish.