1 Samuel 12:24 - "Only fear the Lord and serve Him in
truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for
you."
In this passage Samuel is addressing the children of Israel. The children of Israel asked Samuel to pray for them that they might not die because of this evil they had committed against the Lord, and Samuel said to them - "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away."
Even though as believers we still have a problem with sin we, like the children of Israel, need to continue to serve the Lord with all our heart and not turn aside from following Him, because God is faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 says - "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." God is faithful, that's just who He is. And Samuel encouraged the people to - "consider what great things He has done for you." The children of Israel could look back over their history and see the faithfulness of God and the things that He accomplished for them, but they could also look back at their individual lives and see what God had done for them, not only as a nation, but as individuals as well. Notice he says "consider what great things the Lord has done for you." God is a personal God, and He does great things in this world specifically for you. That's quite a thought. We, as members of the church, can look back over the centuries and see how God has worked in church history to bring about so many great things, and how He has worked to get His word in written form all throughout the world, and we can consider these great things that God has done for the church and profit from them. But from time to time it will do us good to stop and look back over our lives and just consider what great things the Lord has done for us personally. And when I consider these things, when I focus on what God has done for me specifically, it becomes more and more easy and more and more natural to fear the Lord and serve Him only. Even in the times all throughout my life when I have been faithless, God has remained faithful. And not because I deserve it, I don't, but simply because He cannot deny Himself. Consider how He has led you throughout your life and provided for you. Consider how He drew you to Himself in salvation and consider the times that He caused you to grow in your faith, the times that He stretched you and made you uncomfortable, but looking back you can see how He was working and now you wouldn't have it any other way. Consider how He brought certain people into your life that had a great influence on you, and you know you would be the man or woman of God that you are today apart from their involvement in your life. Sometimes we tend to think that God actively interfering in the things of man is a thing of the past, but that is so wrong. God is actively working in your life and in mine, and if we but take a moment to stop and really think about it we will certainly see that this is the case. We can take time to consider Gods Word and see how the Lord worked in the lives of our Biblical hero's, but it would do us well to reflect on our own personal lives and consider what great things the Lord has done for us.
In this passage Samuel is addressing the children of Israel. The children of Israel asked Samuel to pray for them that they might not die because of this evil they had committed against the Lord, and Samuel said to them - "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away."
Even though as believers we still have a problem with sin we, like the children of Israel, need to continue to serve the Lord with all our heart and not turn aside from following Him, because God is faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 says - "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." God is faithful, that's just who He is. And Samuel encouraged the people to - "consider what great things He has done for you." The children of Israel could look back over their history and see the faithfulness of God and the things that He accomplished for them, but they could also look back at their individual lives and see what God had done for them, not only as a nation, but as individuals as well. Notice he says "consider what great things the Lord has done for you." God is a personal God, and He does great things in this world specifically for you. That's quite a thought. We, as members of the church, can look back over the centuries and see how God has worked in church history to bring about so many great things, and how He has worked to get His word in written form all throughout the world, and we can consider these great things that God has done for the church and profit from them. But from time to time it will do us good to stop and look back over our lives and just consider what great things the Lord has done for us personally. And when I consider these things, when I focus on what God has done for me specifically, it becomes more and more easy and more and more natural to fear the Lord and serve Him only. Even in the times all throughout my life when I have been faithless, God has remained faithful. And not because I deserve it, I don't, but simply because He cannot deny Himself. Consider how He has led you throughout your life and provided for you. Consider how He drew you to Himself in salvation and consider the times that He caused you to grow in your faith, the times that He stretched you and made you uncomfortable, but looking back you can see how He was working and now you wouldn't have it any other way. Consider how He brought certain people into your life that had a great influence on you, and you know you would be the man or woman of God that you are today apart from their involvement in your life. Sometimes we tend to think that God actively interfering in the things of man is a thing of the past, but that is so wrong. God is actively working in your life and in mine, and if we but take a moment to stop and really think about it we will certainly see that this is the case. We can take time to consider Gods Word and see how the Lord worked in the lives of our Biblical hero's, but it would do us well to reflect on our own personal lives and consider what great things the Lord has done for us.
1 Samuel 12:22,24 - "For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself... Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you."
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