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If you are a parent, then you are probably all too familiar with phrases such as: “but mom/dad, everyone else has it!! Why can’t I?!” If you are honest, you have probably tried to use that argument yourself (I know I certainly have). What may surprise you is how often we still employ this reasoning in our lives without even being consciously aware of it.
The prophet Samuel was growing old, his time as a judge over Israel was ending, and his sons did not walk in the ways of their father. The Israelites demanded that they have a king to “judge us like all of the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). The sinful, pagan nations around them that they were supposed to drive out completely had already started influencing their lives.
This displeased Samuel, but more importantly, it displeased God.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:7-9, emp. mine).
God told Samuel, “By demanding to be like everyone else, they have rejected me. By asking for an earthly king, they have rejected their true king, me.” To us, 21st century readers, this seems like an appalling action on the part of the Hebrews. Unfortunately, we are guilty of the very same thing. When we behave just like the world, when we behave in such a way that it is impossible to differentiate between the world and ourselves then we are committing the same ugly sin that the nation of Israel committed. If we put sporting events, school functions, or social gatherings ahead of church or Christian things, then we are rejected God as king and exalting those things in his place.
It is imperative that God be number one in our lives in a day and age when we are constantly busy. Who is your King?
