Exempt?

16 He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17 David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. 20 He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder."

 21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the people with him. As David and his men approached, he greeted them. 22 But all the evil men and troublemakers among David's followers said, "Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go."

 23 David replied, "No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. 24 Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." 25 David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this. 1Samuel 30:16-25

If it only worked that way today…"All will share alike."

Sound familiar?

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

Why don't we continue this today?

Probably the same reason they didn't want to, their pride.

They thought the provisions were a result of their work, but think about this.

Did they do anything to convince the 4 commanders to send them back to Ziklag?

Did they provide the guidance to pursue the Amalekites, or was it God?

What about God's provision of the Egyptian slave in the middle of nowhere?

What did they do to get the Amalekites fat, drunk and scattered?

What did they do in helping the Amalekites raid other villages so their "spoils" would be greater?

This was not their victory, it was God's!

We do this in "the church" all the time; we take credit for God's work. We may have taken part in it, but it was what God has done.

"But at least we did our part!"

Ok, think about when the 200 said we can't go any farther. Don't you think it helped them out? They could leave all their stuff on the other side of the ravine; they could travel lighter and faster and be fresher for battle.

The church is a body and everyone plays a significant role, no one is unimportant, but we forget that.

21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1 Cor 12:21-26

    "…made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this."

When did we become exempt from this?