Today’s Scripture: 1 Samuel 4-8
Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. – Psalm 115:3
Have you ever tried to manipulate God? For example, some people think that by tithing they can force God to bless them financially. Others believe that by doing evangelism or serving sacrificially, they can guarantee that God will give them what they want. It’s true that God blesses those who tithe, and He honors the humble service rendered for Him. But we do not manipulate God through religious ritual of any kind.
Today’s passage begins with the people of God going out to battle apart from the Lord’s command and suffering defeat. But rather than repent of their sin, they blamed the whole thing on God. When they decided to try again, they thought they would guarantee success by performing a religious ritual–taking the ark of the covenant into battle with them. They thought they had God in a box. Thirty thousand of Israel’s soldiers were killed, and the ark was captured by the Philistines.
Many years after this devastating defeat, Samuel sensed that the people were ready to return to the Lord, and he said to them, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods…and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (7:3).
You may have left the Lord behind a long time ago. But it’s not too late for the deep, genuine repentance that God responds to with mercy and love. We cannot manipulate God, but we can love and serve Him with all our hearts. And we can praise Him that He is the God of the second chance.
Prayer
Lord, I repent of my attempts to force You to bless my actions; thank You for giving me a second chance. Amen.
To Ponder
It is my heartfelt repentance, not a religious ritual, that moves the hand of God.
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