"We Want a King!"
Readings for the Day
1 Samuel 8-10, 2 Corinthians 10
Verses of the Day
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Today the people of God go to their leader Samuel and beg him by saying, "We want a King, we want a King!" As they see the other nations around them, they want to be like them. God wanted to be their true King and give them what they really needed, but they thought they had a better way. Samuel was distressed and knew this was the wrong direction, but the crowds kept pressing him, "we want a King, we want a King!" Finally, The Lord said, "Listen to them and give them a King." Such began the beginning of Israel being led by human king.
When Samuel asked The Lord about it God gave him this warning about an earthly king when he said prophetically, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots."
Basically God is saying if you prefer a human king over me as your leader, here is what you are going to get. As we will see in Israel'a history it had a lot more good kings than bad kings. One of the things we see about God is if we want something so badly He will in effect say, "if you want this so badly then go ahead and have it". God gave us free will, and the result is we often think we have a better way than God's. We would rather be in control than surrender to God's control. We see that with the Israelites and we see it today.
While we cannot always control what is happening in the world, how it is run, and who are its leaders, we can control our own families. As Joshua said to the Israelites in Joshua 24:15, But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Do you want a King or do you already have one? God has given us a King in His Son Jesus. Though he came in great humility, he will return in great and promised glory and power. Jesus is the kind of King who will lay down his life for you. He did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom. But the question for us today is what kind of King do we want? We can be pretty sure God will give us what we want.
1 Samuel 8-10, 2 Corinthians 10
Verses of the Day
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Today the people of God go to their leader Samuel and beg him by saying, "We want a King, we want a King!" As they see the other nations around them, they want to be like them. God wanted to be their true King and give them what they really needed, but they thought they had a better way. Samuel was distressed and knew this was the wrong direction, but the crowds kept pressing him, "we want a King, we want a King!" Finally, The Lord said, "Listen to them and give them a King." Such began the beginning of Israel being led by human king.
When Samuel asked The Lord about it God gave him this warning about an earthly king when he said prophetically, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots."
Basically God is saying if you prefer a human king over me as your leader, here is what you are going to get. As we will see in Israel'a history it had a lot more good kings than bad kings. One of the things we see about God is if we want something so badly He will in effect say, "if you want this so badly then go ahead and have it". God gave us free will, and the result is we often think we have a better way than God's. We would rather be in control than surrender to God's control. We see that with the Israelites and we see it today.
While we cannot always control what is happening in the world, how it is run, and who are its leaders, we can control our own families. As Joshua said to the Israelites in Joshua 24:15, But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Do you want a King or do you already have one? God has given us a King in His Son Jesus. Though he came in great humility, he will return in great and promised glory and power. Jesus is the kind of King who will lay down his life for you. He did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom. But the question for us today is what kind of King do we want? We can be pretty sure God will give us what we want.
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