"Samuel said to the people, 'Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following The Lord, but serve The Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. For The Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because The Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. Only fear The Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.'" 1 Samuel 12:20-22, 24
1 Samuel 12 is a speech by Samuel to the Israelites after Saul has been accepted as king. He is encouraging Israel to obey God as they follow their new king's leadership, because the only alternative is to rebel. There is no in between, and there is no in between for us.
The people of Israel finally realize their rebelliousness in asking for (even demanding) a king, to be like the nations around them, and so they ask Samuel to pray for their forgiveness. Our passage above picks up with Samuel's response: "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following The Lord..." Yes - the Israelites have royally screwed up, but this was not a surprise to God - He knows everything! Instead of getting hung up on their sin which can't be changed, Samuel tells them to look forward and commit - "serve The Lord with ALL your heart." This was God's Word for the Israelites then, and it is still His Word for us today.
Often, when I read my Bible, I want to identify with the hero or good guy, like David, Daniel, or in this case, Samuel! But that's not right. Samuel is a representative of Christ - Samuel couldn't lead God's people perfectly, but Christ could and does. You and I aren't like Samuel, we're like the Israelites (take a deep breath - I know it hurts my pride a little too). Like the Israelites, my heart is easily persuaded to seek what I think will make me happy and even "fit in" with those around me. Why do you think there are so many commercials, billboards, magazine and internet advertisements?! We've been told that we'll be happy if we accumulate more, have a bigger home or drive the best car! (And yes, my heart is coveting a new car right now as one of ours is sitting needing $800 worth of repairs and the other has just been returned to us by an auto shop that couldn't figure out why it keeps dying on us! Oy!)
Samuel tells us above that turning aside from serving God with ALL of our hearts means giving our hearts to "futile things which cannot profit or deliver." There's no in between - either God has our heart or He doesn't.
Why should He have our entire heart?! That's a GREAT question! Seriously! At the beginning of 1 Samuel 12, Samuel reminds Israel of their history with God - His calling of Abraham, preserving Isaac, Jacob and all in Egypt, delivering them from slavery and giving them a land of their own. Verse 24 above calls us to fear and serve God because of the great things He has done for you. I know God has done great things in each of our lives, but none is so great, important or impactful as sending Christ, His only Son. This is our motivation for obedience! Christ sacrificed Himself for you and has rescued you from ALL that you truly deserve!!!
That last verse says, "serve Him in truth with all your heart." That means that what we believe determines how we act. What our hearts truly love, desire and serve will be evident by what we talk about, how we act and what we pour our time and energy into. We can easily say that we love God with our entire heart, but does your lifestyle, choices and thoughts reflect this? And do you spend time gaining truth about God through His word so that you can love Him even more? Get to know Him better every day through His word and prayer. Meditate on His word, and this will teach you His truth. Pray and ask for help to believe who He is and that what He says is right and good.
Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your mercy and grace, and I thank You for sending Christ so that I could know you and can pray to You. Lord, I believe You are good and that nothing is outside of Your control - help my unbelief. Help me know You better every day. In You powerful name I pray, Amen.
1 Samuel 12 is a speech by Samuel to the Israelites after Saul has been accepted as king. He is encouraging Israel to obey God as they follow their new king's leadership, because the only alternative is to rebel. There is no in between, and there is no in between for us.
The people of Israel finally realize their rebelliousness in asking for (even demanding) a king, to be like the nations around them, and so they ask Samuel to pray for their forgiveness. Our passage above picks up with Samuel's response: "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following The Lord..." Yes - the Israelites have royally screwed up, but this was not a surprise to God - He knows everything! Instead of getting hung up on their sin which can't be changed, Samuel tells them to look forward and commit - "serve The Lord with ALL your heart." This was God's Word for the Israelites then, and it is still His Word for us today.
Often, when I read my Bible, I want to identify with the hero or good guy, like David, Daniel, or in this case, Samuel! But that's not right. Samuel is a representative of Christ - Samuel couldn't lead God's people perfectly, but Christ could and does. You and I aren't like Samuel, we're like the Israelites (take a deep breath - I know it hurts my pride a little too). Like the Israelites, my heart is easily persuaded to seek what I think will make me happy and even "fit in" with those around me. Why do you think there are so many commercials, billboards, magazine and internet advertisements?! We've been told that we'll be happy if we accumulate more, have a bigger home or drive the best car! (And yes, my heart is coveting a new car right now as one of ours is sitting needing $800 worth of repairs and the other has just been returned to us by an auto shop that couldn't figure out why it keeps dying on us! Oy!)
Samuel tells us above that turning aside from serving God with ALL of our hearts means giving our hearts to "futile things which cannot profit or deliver." There's no in between - either God has our heart or He doesn't.
Why should He have our entire heart?! That's a GREAT question! Seriously! At the beginning of 1 Samuel 12, Samuel reminds Israel of their history with God - His calling of Abraham, preserving Isaac, Jacob and all in Egypt, delivering them from slavery and giving them a land of their own. Verse 24 above calls us to fear and serve God because of the great things He has done for you. I know God has done great things in each of our lives, but none is so great, important or impactful as sending Christ, His only Son. This is our motivation for obedience! Christ sacrificed Himself for you and has rescued you from ALL that you truly deserve!!!
That last verse says, "serve Him in truth with all your heart." That means that what we believe determines how we act. What our hearts truly love, desire and serve will be evident by what we talk about, how we act and what we pour our time and energy into. We can easily say that we love God with our entire heart, but does your lifestyle, choices and thoughts reflect this? And do you spend time gaining truth about God through His word so that you can love Him even more? Get to know Him better every day through His word and prayer. Meditate on His word, and this will teach you His truth. Pray and ask for help to believe who He is and that what He says is right and good.
Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your mercy and grace, and I thank You for sending Christ so that I could know you and can pray to You. Lord, I believe You are good and that nothing is outside of Your control - help my unbelief. Help me know You better every day. In You powerful name I pray, Amen.
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