Dear Hope family,
Thought for the Week
Samuel – Be careful with Your Motives!
1Samuel 8v5 “Now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have.”
We don’t know exactly why, but like Eli’s sons before him, Samuel’s sons didn’t follow the Lord. Instead of walking in God’s ways and serving him faithfully, they chased after money and worldly things.
The people of Israel saw this and asked Samuel to appoint a king to lead them — “just like all the other nations have.” There’s some irony here.
- They were not accepting Samuel’s sons because of their worldliness, but they themselves were looking to the world for inspiration rather than God.
- God planned for Israel to have a king one day — King David, whose descendant would be King Jesus. But the people’s motivation was wrong. They weren’t asking because they wanted to follow God’s plan — they just wanted to copy the world around them.
Samuel was upset about their request, but God told him three important things:
- They weren’t rejecting Samuel as much as they were rejecting God as their King.
- Samuel should let them have a king.
- Samuel must also warn the people about what would happen as a result and give an opportunity for them to change their mind.
Even after Samuel warned them, the people refused to listen. They wanted what they wanted. So God told Samuel, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Because they were working with the wrong motives, they worked at the wrong time, and they would end up with the wrong person. Their religious worship looked good on the outside, but in their hearts, they weren’t letting God truly be their Lord and King. As a result it would all become messy — but later in Samuel, God’s plan would still succeed.
Let’s learn from this. Let’s check our motivations. Let’s make sure our hearts and timing are in line with God’s will — not just our own desires.
With love and blessing,
Roland
Leave a Reply