"We shall individually be held responsible for doing one jot less than we have ability to do...But when we give ourselves wholly to God, and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure. We are to cooperate with One who knows no failure." ~Messages to Young People, p. 309

Monday, August 1, 2011

Blogging Through The Books of Samuel: 1 Samuel 16

1 Samuel 16--Samuel anointing David as second king of Israel. Classic story that we all probably know, but it is still good to re-read it once in a while! I know the lesson that I've drawn from this story is an age-old one, but I still think it is something good to remember.

Scripture:

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." ~1 Samuel 16:7

Observation:

I don't think there needs to be much of an observation here. Samuel calls all of Jesse's family to a feast, with actual motives of anointing a new king. Samuel goes through almost all of Jesse's sons before God reveals to his prophet who the next king of Israel shall be.

Application:

I think this chapter's lesson is two-fold: one, we should not judge people. We are not good at it, terrible in fact, and besides, there is no positive result. Leave the judging with God, who is good at it! The second thing I pulled from this chapter was that (well, this is kinda the same lesson really) people are not always who we think them to be. Samuel, nor anyone else for that matter, didn't see a mighty ruler in shepherd boy David. But God did! We need to remember not to judge people, because they could end up being somebody totally different.

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to truly let you judge. Help me to not judge other people. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

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