Invaluable Reminder

“When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ although the LORD your God was your king. “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. 1 Samuel 12:12-14

If/then statements are a part of math. If Betty has three flowers and Ben steals two of them, then Betty has only one flower and is crying… Ok, maybe I’m not so perfect at if/then statements in math, but God is, and there are a lot of if/then statements in the Bible. Prophets and heroes of our faith use them to convey invaluable reminders for us.

In 1 Samuel 12, Samuel the prophet admonishes the Israelites after their successful rescue of a besieged tribe of Israel and the defeat of the Amorites. Israel had just been granted their request to have a King, and Saul was that King.

There’s a lot more going on in the story, but the part I want to focus on is the invaluable reminder that Samuel keeps telling them.

Samuel never lets up on the Israelites that their idea to have a king like the other nations was bad. He never changes his basic message of “fear the Lord and serve Him.” His if/then statement from the Lord is, “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.” Sounds simple right? It is, but I wish our practice of this simple command to obey were more real.

The invaluable reminder in this passage is that when we make God our King, the fear of Him, listening to Him, not rebelling against him works out a lot better. Sometimes without realizing it, we make our following God about us. O, I know, shocker, right. The continual reminder in Scripture is about following God, not us.

Not our wants or our desires. Not our way of thinking about a subject, but God’s.

This is deeply connected to the primary way He reveals His truth to us, His Word, otherwise known as the BIBLE.

This truth is repeated in Christ’s words in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Do you see the connection? Follow God, then the things of God will be added to your life. Make Him your King, and He will start the righteous rule in our lives.

The question is, will we make Him King? Samuel’s invaluable reminder is that He is King; our part is to submit to the real King, The LORD our God.

Pastor Mike


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