Read the Word:
1 Samuel 8:1-9
Meditate on the Word:
When we covered this passage on Sunday (verses 1-20), we noted that when we reject God, He will give us over to the control of those things (or people) that we reject Him for. Today, as we focus on the first few verses of this chapter, we can see how Samuel was hurt by their demand. After four decades of faithfully presenting the word and will of God to the people, he felt personally rejected by their call for a king. How could he not take it personally? They started their demand with, “Look, you are old.”
It can seem deeply personal when we share the gospel with someone and they outright reject it. We can wonder:
- “Did I miss something?”
- “Did I say something wrong?”
- “Was I not convincing in what I said?”
God acknowledges Samuel taking their rejection personally by pointing out to him, “it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me.” In the same way that Samuel was not responsible for the people’s rejection of God, we are not responsible for people’s rejection of Him. We are simply announcers of a Kingdom. Like Samuel was, let’s be faithful to proclaiming God’s word to this generation, whatever the result.
Pray the Word:
Confess any feelings of hurt or rejection that you feel. Let God’s word remind you that it is Him, not you, that they have rejected.
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