Calendar

WARNING AGAINST REJECTING GOD
LORD’S DAY, MARCH 26
1 Samuel 8:9-22

2 Peter 2:1-3

 

“Hearken unto their voice,

and make them a king”

 

WARNING AGAINST REJECTING GOD
 
So prone are we, as men, to be partial in our view of circumstances and things as we consider choices available to us and make decisions. The elders of Israel considered their future with partiality; Samuel took the matter to the LORD who reminded him that the affront was not to him as servant, but to God who was Master. The message that the LORD sent back to the people through Samuel was a warning of what would come as a result of their request and desire to be like the nations of the world.
 
“This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you…” (1 Sam 8:11). The appeal of the worldly system and its lure kept them from seeing the decay and cruelty that accompanied it. The lure of the world also blinded them to the losses they would suffer and the grace they would be deprived of. Today too, many do not count the cost of the choices and decisions they make. False prophets, false apostles, false teachers abound luring men with promises of health, wealth, prosperity and grandeur. However, it is all but a ploy, a smoke screen with which they trap them, fleece them, and enslave them, binding them to their whims.
 
The prevalence of heresies and false teachings and the increasing deception is a testimony to our nature to be rash in our decisions, and to be attracted to the luring appeal of the world and worldliness. Strange and new doctrines get propagated and also find acceptance and secure following, when God’s Word is available in many languages for all to read. Men do not want to read the Word revealed, but seek new revelations daily. To such (like to the men of Israel who desired a king like unto the nations) should this solemn warning be sounded: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. …And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof…” (1 John 2:15-17). There is danger in forsaking God, and there is no joy in pursuing the world. Yet, the sad response of the children of Israel to Samuel is also the grim reality today. Despite the truth proclaimed, many still say: “…Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations…” (1 Sam 8:19-20).
 
THOUGHT: “…present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Rom 12:1).

PRAYER: Father, grant me strength which is perfected in my weakness.

Search