Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 9-10; Acts 8
There is a timeless curiosity and wonder of wishes. Some of the stories that we have had have been told for millennia. One of the most told stories of wishes and their consequences is Aladdin. If you’re not familiar with Aladdin, a peasant finds a lamp that contains a genie. This genie can grant three wishes. Once the three wishes are completed then there are no more. One of the most interesting points of the story is that the genie gives the boundaries of the wish and once the wish has been granted, it cannot be reversed.
Many times in our lives we wish and hope for things to happen. We wish that we win the Powerball. We wish that we get this new job. We wish we had the love of our life. We wish for someone to return from the dead. But each of these wishes are out of our control. What if we did receive all of these wishes, what would the need or the necessity of faith be?
In today’s reading, and in the passage, the Israelites have wished, and begged for a king. The people of Israel were not satisfied with the leaders that God had given them for direction. They had complained for several hundred years. God gave them what they wished for. The first king that they received is Saul.
”But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”“
1 Samuel 8:6-9 ESV
These are the boundaries and the consequences of the wish:
”He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”“
1 Samuel 8:11-18 ESV
The king that was granted was the tallest and most handsome man that the people could have. He had all the things that would make a “great” king. The only thing that separated Saul from truly loving God is his heart. His heart was in the practice of the rituals, but not behind the essence of the ritual. Saul wanted to please God by doing the correct thing, but not truly believing in the right thing.
How many times do we try to do the right thing to please God? How many times do we try to say the right thing to please God? God is not concerned about the things, but the heart. The people of Israel didn’t want to do the heart search for God, they wanted to have someone do things for them. The person who they received didn’t have the heart of God and didn’t give the people the things that they had hoped to receive. God has all the things that are needed for us and so much more in store for us if we accept him as the true king of our hearts and find peace in him.
Be blessed