God’s message through Samuel applied to the Israelites, and because of the endless, unrelenting, unselfish and timeless love for His people, God, for His own name’s sake, continues to love, protect and encourage His children today. Remember, we are the apple of His eye, and deserving of the greatest life-giving sacrifice by the Lord Himself! Join me as we listen intently to His voice today through His own precious Word and be encouraged to never give up on worshipping and serving our Lord God!
DATE POSTED Monday, 2022-07-25
WRITTEN AT: Orlando, FL
BY: Ed Algreen
SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Samuel 12:20-22
TRANSLATION: New Century Version (NCV)
BIBLE TEXT: 20 Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It’s true that you did wrong, but don’t turn away from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Idols are of no use, so don’t worship them. They can’t help you or save you. They are useless! 22 For his own sake, the Lord won’t leave his people. Instead, he was pleased to make you his own people.
APPLICATION: Some may think that they have been way too bad or done way too many evil things for a loving and holy God to ever love them or desire to accept and bless them. We are reminded in the words of Samuel, to a king who disobeyed the commands of God, that we are loved in spite of our weaknesses, our evil minds and our determination to follow the ways of the world. In the heart of man, we might choose to hold the hurt by others in our heart and try to seek revenge, but God wanted Saul, and us, to know that we are to be firm in our commitment to serve and honor our God. If we concentrate on our sin, and allow it to pull us down, we will only sink further into sin. However, if we choose to honor God and seek His face, then I believe that He will draw our attention to our disobedience and our selfish desires to do everything that our heart desires. He will draw us back to our source of all strength and love. In Christ, we will have all we need to fight our battles; deflect the sin that so rampantly surrounds us every day; and encourage us to seek and depend on the Lord while He is near and can be found. Friends, sin will draw us into more sin, but through the power of God we can be more than conquerors and therefore overcome the evil that Satan throws at us. Notice that Samuel encouraged Saul and his men to continue worshipping God. Yes, they sinned, but in placing themselves before a righteous and holy God, He will tender their hearts to seek forgiveness and turn away from that sin. Let’s always remember that although our God is holy and has never sinned, He is well aware of our weak nature and our attraction to sin. As our Father, He is standing with arms wide opened to accept us, forgive us, and strengthen us for His service. But He wants our willingness to desire a better life – less of me and more of Him.
BLESSING(S) NOTED: What a mighty God we serve! In spite of our weaknesses yet He desires that we would come before Him; serve Him and obey His every commands.
PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for being such a reasonable, loving and accepting Father! You’ve seen our faults, our weaknesses and our lack of commitment, yet You love to us anyway. You are our God, and we are deeply moved by Your compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love. Please don’t give up on us, for we feel like a constant work in progress, and we need you more and more each day. Please direct us to our areas of service so that others may see and experience Jesus through us. AMEN!