CHASING FLEAS

After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. —1 Samuel 24:14

King Saul was obsessed and intent on killing David. After two years of relentlessly pursuing David around the country side, David calls out to Saul, “After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.”  David was saying, “Hey Saul, don’t you have anything better to do than waste your time running after the likes of me?  I’m nothing but a dead dog or worthless flea!  Don’t you have bigger fish to fry?

Saul was a man who stood head and shoulders above every man in Israel.  He was King.  He wore a crown and garments of royalty. He had an army at his command.  And what is he doing? Chasing a minuscule tiny  flea all over Palestine!  How ludicrous!  It would be like shooting at sparrows with a howitzer.  How dishonoring for a man in his high position to engage in such a trivial pursuit.

Yet, I see Christians often engaged in similar foolish pursuits when they waste their precious time, physical energies, skillful abilities, and intellectual prowess pursuing things that are equivalent to a flea in comparison to their “high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).  They squander their life on things so minuscule that are about as valueless as a dead dog!

They chase after the fleas of material possessions that have no eternal value. They chase the flea of worldly ease, not realizing that nothing is ever achieved without work or effort.  I see them chasing the fleas of carnal pleasures that only last for a short season. Many are running after the flea of man’s applause when they should be seeking the praise of God (John 12:43).

What a waste of valuable time and resources in the pursuit of such trivial matters. “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?” (Prov. 23:5).

There is an old saying when we do something that is futile or a waste of time and money, it is like “polishing doorknobs on the Titanic.”  I am sure when the Titanic sunk to the bottom of the cold Atlantic Ocean it had nicely polished doorknobs. But they are not shiny today.  The loss of precious lives far outweighed the shiny glamour that ship once had.

Are you polishing doorknobs on the sinking ship of this world?  Are you chasing fleas or following hard after Christ for an eternal reward?  Are you seeking a heavenly crown or the carcass of a dead dog?