1 Samuel 12:1-25
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
But the people forgot the LORD their God, and so he let the Philistines and the king of Moab and Sisera, commander of the army of the city of Hazor, fight against your ancestors and conquer them. -1 Samuel 12:9 [GNT]
We serve a God who loves us and is always willing to be with us right through our lives when we remain in Him and His Word remains in us. He desires His kingship in our lives so that His reign would ensure His protection and care upon us.
Samuel served the Lord and His people faithfully even to the point of encouraging them to know the consequences of turning away and forgetting the Lord. He also helped them to understand the principles of servant-leadership by giving them the opportunity to accuse him in the presence of the Lord. Samuel wanted God’s people to know how powerful God had been to them by even encouraging them to think back of how God sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel himself to represent Him in their defence.
God has been their king, governing them and ministering to them through the faithful service of His assigned servants. But the people have shifted their minds from the Lord by forgetting about him and asking for a king rather than depending on Him to fight their battles. Samuel gave them what they asked for and opened their eyes to see the enormity of their request for a king.
Trying to imitate something from the worldly concept/view without knowing the mind of God for it and a total disregard for His called and appointed servant, puts us in a situation where we unconsciously go against His purpose and unknowingly turn our backs on Him. We tend to depend on the world’s wisdom probably ignoring what His Word says on the matter. Turning our backs on the Lord when He really wants to stand with us in promoting His purpose on earth, may seem a light thing in our minds but the consequences and outcome may not be very pleasant. This is what happened to the people of Israel—they had to bear the ill effects of having an earthly king rule over them.
Since our God is loving and merciful, He is always ready to forgive His children who after turning their backs on Him, genuinely and consciously realize their mistakes and repent- God is always ready to embrace them and make them whole again. Despite all the mistakes done by God’s people while having Samuel with them promoting the Lord’s purpose for them, Samuel in admonishing them had this to say to them: "Don't be afraid," Samuel answered, "Even though you have done such an evil thing, do not turn away from the LORD, but serve him with all your heart.” (Vs.20). He told them to continue to revere God and serve Him in truth, considering all that He had done for them.
As we look into our lives, is there anything we have not heeded to the Lord’s command or turned away from Him? When we sin against the LORD and are genuinely sorry for our mistakes—He is willing to forgive! “But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.” (1 John 1:9 GNT). Remember brother/sister: He has chosen you and me to be His own through His Son, Jesus Christ. And He desires our whole hearted devotion to Him all our life!
Think on: “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;” (Acts 3:19)