No way to earn brownie points...

After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
(2 Samuel 1:1-10 ESV)
Despite all that was going on in his own life - the destruction of his city, the capture of his family, the rebellion of his troops, and the subsequent deliverance God provided from them all, David still had in his mind the battle between his homeland and the Philistines.  He was waiting to hear word, and he finally does. It is brought by a most unlikely, yet very likely source.  An Amalekite. David had just defeated most of them. This stray survivor  had the mindset of most of them: use any opportunity to take advantage of others to get for yourself.  That is what the invaders who had taken David's family had done, and so he does here. He hoped that David would be like him - heartless and self-seeking, willing to lie to get ahead. In his mind, his "lie" had saved David a lot of aggravation: Killing Saul would earn him brownie points from David. Nothing was further from the truth.  We live in a culture of heartlessness, self-seeking, and lying. Have we become infected by it?  Are we looking for ways - any ways - to get ahead, at the expense of other?  It may at times fit in the agenda others have for themselves, but it will make no brownie points with God in the big scheme of things. Some day the selfishness of others will overrule our own.  May we have no heart, and no ear, for those who call to the selfishness of our hearts.