In 1 Samuel 7, Samuel took his stand as a national leader and called for the gathering of all Israel at Mizpah. The nation of Israel had come to trust Samuel, because the Lord chose to reveal Himself and His Word through the young prophet. Now, after a major catastrophe with the precious national centerpiece (loss and return of the ark), Israel had 20 years to review their hearts and accept conviction. Verse 2 says, "...all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD."
After this time, Samuel uses his influence to preach a message of repentance. Repentance in this instance contains four action steps for Israel. With hearts of genuine remorse, they were to:
1. Return to the Lord with all of their hearts
2. Remove the idolatry and foreign worship from among them
3. Direct their hearts to Him alone
4. Serve Him alone
These steps are applicable to me, also. As the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin, in genuine remorse I should turn my heart to the Lord. I give it wholly to Him and begin removing stumbling blocks from my life that have caused me to sin. Not only do I return and remove, but I actively should direct my heart to Him. Where idols were removed, I need to fill my heart and mind with Him. True heart change will happen by His hand. This can happen through spending time in prayer, fellowship with other Christians, and studying the Bible to know Him better. Dying to myself, I then spend my energies in service to Him instead of my own selfish desires and empty idols.
Back in our chapter, Israel uniquely worshiped God as they gathered and fasted in repentance. During those twenty years after the ark made its way back from Philistia, they saw their need for His centrality in their lives. The LORD was living water to the desert of their sinful hearts. Responding under Samuel's leadership, Israel drew up one of their most precious resources in that region - water - and poured it out before God as an act of worship. In repentance and conviction, they acknowledged their need of God and poured out their hearts to Him.
God's living water seeps into the parched areas of the sinner's heart. Moment by moment His grace sustains and prepares the soil. If a human heart is to be a fertile place to bear His fruit, then one must depend on His part in doing it. For the Israelites, this meant pursuing God each time they were tempted to turn from Him.
The Philistines again came to tempt them into submission, and Israel was afraid. Yet, they asked for Samuel's prayer and stood for battle. As a fulfimment of His promise should they repent, the Lord acted mightily on their behalf to defeat the Philistines. Samuel's response to this victory is one that will help us in our own repentance. He built an altar before the Lord and remembered, "Thus far the Lord has helped us."
As we are again and again tempted, each in ways that are unique to our own weaknesses, we should ask for prayer from those Christains around us. Though we may fear our own moral failure in the beginning, we will stand for battle in obedience to the Lord. Each small step taken that is victorious should cause us to ascribe victory to the Lord. We build a memorial in our hearts to remind us that the Lord helped us thus far. Then, we stand again and look ahead to the next small step of victorious obedience.
Thus far the Lord has helped us. He will again help us in the next temptation.
© 2006 by Kendra Hinkle.
No comments:
Post a Comment