Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Samuel 9-12.
The Israelites sinned in asking for a king because God was already their king. God granted their request, but had warned them that once the king was in place, it would be too late to undo what had been done (1 Samuel 8:18).
However, even though requesting a king was a sin with consequences that would exist for generations, the people would still be able to, and would still have the obligation to, serve the Lord.
“Then all the people said to Samuel, ‘Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.’ 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’” (1 Samuel 12:19-20).
There was no way to undo their sin. They now had to live with the consequences. But they still needed to obey the Lord from that point forward.
Each one of us has sinned (Romans 3:23). Some of these sins have long-term consequences. Yet we must never use them as excuses for not serving the Lord.
Remember Paul who described himself as “foremost of all” sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Despite his previous sins, most notably his direct assault against the body of Christ (Acts 8:1,3; 9:1-2), he was able to faithfully serve the Lord. If anyone could have claimed his past sins hindered him from obedience, it would have been Paul. Yet he obeyed.
Do not let your past sins hinder you from serving the Lord. Acknowledge those sins, repent of them, seek forgiveness according to God’s terms, and then serve Him faithfully from that point forward.
Tomorrow’s reading: 1 Samuel 13-14
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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