May 15, 2010, 9:00 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: A leader’s integrity
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Samuel 12:1-5
Message of the verses: “1 ¶ Then Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold,
I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I have appointed a
king over you. 2 "Now, here is the
king walking before you, but I am old and gray, and behold my sons are with
you. And I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. 3 "Here I am; bear witness against me
before the LORD and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I
taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have
I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you."
4 They said, "You have not
defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand." 5 He said to them, ‘The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day
that you have found nothing in my hand." And they said, "He is
witness.’”
This
SD begins a new chapter in Warren
Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of 1
Samuel that he entitles “Reviewing and
Rebuking.” Samuel begins in chapter twelve to give an
account of his life, and as he stated there was noting for him to be ashamed of
for he was a man of integrity. I have
stated in earlier SD’s that there is
really not a lot of narrative about Samuel in the books that bare his name and
it seems that just a few chapters ago Samuel was saying to the Lord “Here I am,” and now in verse
three he is saying those exact words to the children of Israel as he gives them
his final farewell speech. Samuel was a
man who followed after the Lord ever since he first heard His cry to him back
in chapter three and now he stands before the children of Israel to present
their king that they had demanded that the Lord give to them and talks about
how he had served the Lord by serving the nation of Israel for all of his
life. He asked them to accuse him of any
sin that he had sinned against them which reminds me of the Lord Jesus asking
His enemies if they could accuse Him of any sin. In either case that was not sin to be seen,
although it is known that there were times in Samuel’s life that he had sinned for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God.
I
am sure that it pained Samuel to even mention his sons, for earlier in the
narrative it was made clear that his sons were taking bribes as they judged in
Beersheba, and it could be that Samuel hoped that they would be able to take
over the judging of the entire nation of Israel like he had done.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: It is a
sobering thought to come to the end of one’s life like Samuel was doing, although he lived quite a few years after
his retirement from judging Israel. By
God’s grace I am beginning my 64th year on
this earth and 37 years have been as a born again believer in Jesus Christ my
Lord. There are many things that I have
regretted doing, but I have always strived to overcome the temptations in my
life and to continue to draw nearer to the Lord who saved me so that when I
come to the place where I am snatched away at the sound of the trumpet or go by
the way of dying that I will be able to say that my life had a high degree of
integrity, and that I served the Lord, and loved the Lord as my top priorities
in life.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Continue to trust the Lord to guide my life
each and every day of my remaining years on this earth.
2. Seek to have the Holy Spirit search my heart for unconfused sin.
3. Continue to learn contentment.
May 15, 2010, 9:44 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment