Rejecting The Reign of God
Every time I read through the Bible I find more references to the basic problem of all people. You might think I am referring to sin. I want to be a lot more specific than that. I have come to the conclusion that the basic problem all people have is that they want to go their own way, instead of letting God reign in their lives.
This is a serious problem because it goes to the nature of who God is and what we must do to enter a relationship with Him. God is the Ruler of the universe. He does not share His glory with anyone. Therefore, when a person comes to the Lord, he must submit to the reign of God in his life. It is not optional. It is essential. Anything less makes God our servant. We are asking Him to do something for us, but we are not willing to acknowledge Him as the Ruler of our lives.
When the people came to ask Samuel for a king, they were rejecting the reign of God.(I Samuel 8:7) Samuel was disturbed by their request, feeling they were rejecting him. God realized the real problem and told Samuel they were actually rejecting Him, not Samuel. Then, He told Samuel to warn them about how it would be living under a king. They were very glad to take on the restrictions of living under a human king, instead of living under the reign of God. This is the pride and independence of the human heart in action. We see it all the time, but it is very sad.
I pray that we will all gratefully turn from doing things our way, and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives. He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."(John 14:6) It is His way or no way. It is His truth or no truth. It His life or no life.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 10-13.
This is a serious problem because it goes to the nature of who God is and what we must do to enter a relationship with Him. God is the Ruler of the universe. He does not share His glory with anyone. Therefore, when a person comes to the Lord, he must submit to the reign of God in his life. It is not optional. It is essential. Anything less makes God our servant. We are asking Him to do something for us, but we are not willing to acknowledge Him as the Ruler of our lives.
When the people came to ask Samuel for a king, they were rejecting the reign of God.(I Samuel 8:7) Samuel was disturbed by their request, feeling they were rejecting him. God realized the real problem and told Samuel they were actually rejecting Him, not Samuel. Then, He told Samuel to warn them about how it would be living under a king. They were very glad to take on the restrictions of living under a human king, instead of living under the reign of God. This is the pride and independence of the human heart in action. We see it all the time, but it is very sad.
I pray that we will all gratefully turn from doing things our way, and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives. He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."(John 14:6) It is His way or no way. It is His truth or no truth. It His life or no life.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 10-13.