It was just a bean field.
A small patch of land that yielded a paltry crop of insignificant tiny vegetables.
The Philistines had gathered together into a troop that day, determined to take the field of beans… Lentiles.
Just a bunch of beans.
Not worth the struggle.
Never really liked them beans anyway.
Just let it go.
Didn’t even plant that stupid field… our parents did.
Just go find another field.
But someone stood up. Shammah did. He knew that old field was more than a bunch of beans.
It represented everything worth fighting for… worth living for… worth dying for.
If they gave up the field, the fence was next.
If they gave up the fence, the barn was next.
If they gave up the barn, the house was next.
If they gave up the house, the family was next.
If they gave up the family, everything was lost.
All because they gave up the field of beans. Tasteless old, undignified, worthless beans. Hand-me-down beans.
As the Philistines approached and the rest of the people vacated their property, Shammah sauntered out to the middle of the field of beans. Armed with a racing heart and a determination to preserve a generation,Shammah defended that insignificant patch of ground and slew every last enemy that threatened to take it away. Because he believed in the value of the beans.
Whatever you do, don’t give away the field.