Today's readings are 1 Samuel 3.1-21 and Acts 16.1-22.
As God promises in 1 Samuel 3.11, when our Lord speaks, he makes ears tingle. During the night the Lord of all creation comes to the young man Samuel and gives him the very serious message of his judgment against the house of Eli. Because Eli has not disciplined his sons, his house will come to an end.
How do we deal with the kind of bad news our Lord brings us? How do we deal with it when we are recipients of God's words of rebuke, either directed at us or through us at other people? It's surely tempting to avoid reporting the severity of our Lord's demands. Or maybe we want to come down as hard as possible on those who hear us, really letting them have it. How do we deal with biblical correctives which need to be aimed at respected older people who have had a long term positive influence on us?
Samuel is faced with a tremendous challenge here. He has seen the sin of Eli's sons. He may have thought they were just acting the way grown-up priests act. We don't really know. He may have seen how evil they were and wished he could do something about it. Whatever the situation, though, Samuel, once he had received the word of God, brought the message to Eli. And Eli accepted it with grace and maturity. He did not reject it out of hand. He did not complain against Samuel. He knew he was wrong.
This passage also makes me wonder how we react when we are confronted by our sin. Do we realize that we were wrong, that we deserved the confrontation, and that we really don't have an excuse? Or do we try to excuse ourselves. As Paul says in Romans 3, let God be true. He is the one who speaks truly about our sin. He is the one who has provided salvation from sin in Jesus. Let God be true.
May the Lord grant that we accept the news he has for us, both bad and good, and that we rejoice that our Lord Jesus Christ has taken the sin, our deadly problem, upon himself.
As God promises in 1 Samuel 3.11, when our Lord speaks, he makes ears tingle. During the night the Lord of all creation comes to the young man Samuel and gives him the very serious message of his judgment against the house of Eli. Because Eli has not disciplined his sons, his house will come to an end.
How do we deal with the kind of bad news our Lord brings us? How do we deal with it when we are recipients of God's words of rebuke, either directed at us or through us at other people? It's surely tempting to avoid reporting the severity of our Lord's demands. Or maybe we want to come down as hard as possible on those who hear us, really letting them have it. How do we deal with biblical correctives which need to be aimed at respected older people who have had a long term positive influence on us?
Samuel is faced with a tremendous challenge here. He has seen the sin of Eli's sons. He may have thought they were just acting the way grown-up priests act. We don't really know. He may have seen how evil they were and wished he could do something about it. Whatever the situation, though, Samuel, once he had received the word of God, brought the message to Eli. And Eli accepted it with grace and maturity. He did not reject it out of hand. He did not complain against Samuel. He knew he was wrong.
This passage also makes me wonder how we react when we are confronted by our sin. Do we realize that we were wrong, that we deserved the confrontation, and that we really don't have an excuse? Or do we try to excuse ourselves. As Paul says in Romans 3, let God be true. He is the one who speaks truly about our sin. He is the one who has provided salvation from sin in Jesus. Let God be true.
May the Lord grant that we accept the news he has for us, both bad and good, and that we rejoice that our Lord Jesus Christ has taken the sin, our deadly problem, upon himself.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com
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