Good morning. Blessed Thursday.
We continue with 1 Sam 8 today. First of all, a few observations.
One, Samuel’s son, Joel and Abijah, did not follow his ways. They did evil like the children of Eli. Every person must be responsible for their own life. A father who is a faithful follower of Christ does not guarantee a child who does the same. We need to teach our children from young. Do not think they will turn out ok. Do not think we can teach them when they reach 12, 18, or 21. Start the moment they came to the world.
Two, right at the heels of driving off the attacks of the Philistines, the Israelites forgot about God. They wanted a human king. They wanted this because they “will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” God just helped them beat their enemies. Immediately, they betrayed God. They showed no gratitude. They turned away from God. They turned their back on God. They wanted their own king.
So, they were ungrateful. And they chose to have a human king over their heavenly king.
The lessons we can learn from 1 Sam 8 are twofold. One, be thankful to God and do not forget his blessings. Look back at the Ebenezers. Two, when you are given a choice between man and God, choose God.
That does not mean we do not follow the laws of the land. You need to stop at a red light. You cannot say, I answer to God. I don’t need to obey human laws. God wants us to submit to earthly rulers. We pay our taxes. We don’t steal. We don’t spread fake news. We don’t take or give bribes. We don’t park at OKU (handicapped) parking bays if we don’t have the OKU stickers. We don’t kill.
What if it comes to a stage where the human laws come head-to-head with God’s law? Read Acts 5:29 and 1 Thess 2:4.
Think about it. Have we forgoten about God’s faithfulness? Have we chosen to please man rather than God? We made mistakes. We wavered. We were afraid. It is ok. Come back to God. He is always there. Don’t wait. We think there is time. We don’t know that. Come back to God now.
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