Today's readings are 1 Samuel 12.1-25 and Acts 22.30-23.11.
I'd like to make a very brief observation about our reading today from 1 Samuel 12. The people of Israel confess that they have sinned. Does Samuel minimize that confession? He does not. In fact, he affirms thaat Israel has indeed sinned. But what are they to do about it? They have confessed. God is the forgiving God. Now the people are to go ahead and live in that forgiveness. They have asked for a king. There isn't a good reason for that. A king can be quite harmful. And the desire of Israel to have a king indicates that they don't trust God as their king. Yet, says Samuel, if the people and the king both strive to avoid sin, to live in faith before God, they will be all right. They have received forgiveness and can go on with their lives.
Do we tend to live in the past? Are we bound by our former sinful decisions? There are times when we do sin in ways that bind our future lives, through foolish and faithless decisions. We can bring lasting harm upon ourselves and those around us. Yet there comes a time for repenting of sin and then living in that repentance, not being conformed to the pattern we think our sin has set up. We can live in the light of God's forgiveness rather than in the darkness of sin. As we daily sin and are constantly brought to repentance, let us also seek to let that forgiveness of God in Christ alter our attitudes so we may live a life that is pleasing to God, beneficial to our fellow man, and which delights in the fact that our Lord and Savior became sin on our behalf so we could be the righteousness of God in Christ.
I'd like to make a very brief observation about our reading today from 1 Samuel 12. The people of Israel confess that they have sinned. Does Samuel minimize that confession? He does not. In fact, he affirms thaat Israel has indeed sinned. But what are they to do about it? They have confessed. God is the forgiving God. Now the people are to go ahead and live in that forgiveness. They have asked for a king. There isn't a good reason for that. A king can be quite harmful. And the desire of Israel to have a king indicates that they don't trust God as their king. Yet, says Samuel, if the people and the king both strive to avoid sin, to live in faith before God, they will be all right. They have received forgiveness and can go on with their lives.
Do we tend to live in the past? Are we bound by our former sinful decisions? There are times when we do sin in ways that bind our future lives, through foolish and faithless decisions. We can bring lasting harm upon ourselves and those around us. Yet there comes a time for repenting of sin and then living in that repentance, not being conformed to the pattern we think our sin has set up. We can live in the light of God's forgiveness rather than in the darkness of sin. As we daily sin and are constantly brought to repentance, let us also seek to let that forgiveness of God in Christ alter our attitudes so we may live a life that is pleasing to God, beneficial to our fellow man, and which delights in the fact that our Lord and Savior became sin on our behalf so we could be the righteousness of God in Christ.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com
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