Fear and Serve the Lord

The Gift of Faith
Tests of Faith

Resurrection Faith

1 Samuel 12:19-25  The Message

¹⁹ Then all the people begged Samuel, “Pray to your God for us, your servants. Pray that we won’t die! On top of all our other sins, we’ve piled on one more—asking for a king!”
^20-22 Samuel said to them, “Don’t be fearful. It’s true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don’t turn your back on God. Worship and serve him heart and soul! Don’t chase after ghost-gods. There’s nothing to them. They can’t help you. They’re nothing but ghost-gods! God, simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people. God took delight in making you into his very own people.
^23-25 “And neither will I walk off and leave you. That would be a sin against God! I’m staying right here at my post praying for you and teaching you the good and right way to live. But I beg of you, fear God and worship him honestly and heartily. You’ve seen how greatly he has worked among you! Be warned: If you live badly, both you and your king will be thrown out.”

For Reflection 

How difficult it is to elect a king!  We want for security, functional economic circumstances, justice and freedom.  But, as in Samuel's time as now, we realize the limits of human polity.  Not all, perhaps no leaders are perfect.  We have learned that when it comes to just and compassionate living, the strongest answer is not political, but, spiritual.  God does not abandon God's creation.  God is just.  God is compassionate and forgiving.  God, through God's son, endured the pain, joy, and seductions of humanity.  God suffered death to show us all how to live.  God is a king who can not be compromised or tainted by the common culture.  Elect the best leader you can find, but give allegiance to God.

Pray

that the complexity of this world does not mire us in the human condition.  Pray for the freedom from the seduction of self-determination.  Pray for the wisdom which comes only through the Holy Spirit which resides in you.