As Saul came to power as the first king of Israel, he continuously fought against his enemies. In his last battle against the Philistines, his all three sons fell slain on the same day and he himself was critically wounded. He said to his armor bearer to run him through in case he would be humiliated by the enemy. His armor bearer was afraid to do it so Saul took his sword and fell on it. Seeing his master kill himself, the armor bearer fell on his own sword as well.

In a sense, Saul’s armor bearer was unwise to choose to die with his master. He could have run away and preserved his life and perhaps took revenge  in later battles. But he would rather die than save his own life. His allegiance deserves our respect.

As a follower of Christ we need also pledge our loyalty to the Master. We should follow the steps of the Lord’s humility and suffering and death and of course resurrection. As Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21, “for to me, to live is Christ and die is gain.” Let our life always be true to Christ and his mission.