Living for God

Tucked in 1 Samuel are a couple of verses which were spoken to the Israelites. Samuel was much older at this point and had anointed Saul as Israel’s first king. Samuel was stepping down as the last judge of the Israelites and was giving his farewell speech. He basically told the Israelites that God was upset at them for wanting a king instead of worshipping Him as King. He told them not to desert God again, especially now as they have a king.

In the middle of the speech are these two verses from 1 Samuel 12:22 and 24: “For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for Himself…Only fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things He has done for you.”

Everyone was created to be needed, loved, and valued. We were also created to worship God. God is our King. He loved us so much He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on a horrid cross for our sins and to rise again so we could have eternal life. When we give our lives to the Lord and ask Jesus to forgive our sins and be a part of our lives, God welcomes us into His family. We become his children. Because of this, God will not ever forsake us. We are His people! We please the Lord just by being His. He loves us just as we are. We do not have to do anything to earn His love. He is ours, and we are His.

God desires a relationship with His people. He wants us to fear Him. This does not mean for us to be frightened or afraid of Him. It means for us to revere Him, be in awe of Him because of who He is. He is YHVH (Yahweh), non-created, always existent, holy, and righteous. When we pray and live for Him, He wants us to remember He is holy.

God wants us to serve Him faithfully. Even if we are housebound or bedbound, or disabled, we can pray for others. We can write to others. We can use social media to share God’s love. And for everyone, our service should be for God and not for applause from man. Our day to day attitudes shows our love and devotion for or against God.

God also wants us to consider the great things he has done for us. God is always faithful. He stays true to his promises. He deserves our praise. We should give Him thanks for everything. He provides for us. He protects us. He gives us wonderful things. God is worthy to be thanked and praised. No matter our circumstances, God wants us to remember all He has done.

As Samuel shared with the Israelites what God wanted for them to do, God asks us to do the same. God wants us to:

1. Know we are His chosen people
2. Have a relationship with Him and fear Him
3. Serve Him faithfully out of love
4. Give thanks and remember all He has done for us.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for who you are. You are my King. You are my Lord. You are my everything. Thank you for choosing me to be a part of your chosen people. Thank you for Jesus Christ, your Son, who died on the cross for my sins, so I can be a part of your family. Thank you for providing me a way to have a relationship with you. I am sorry for complaining and putting other things such as my job, my problems, etc. before you. Please forgive me. I want to serve you faithfully in whatever capacity I can. I give you thanks for who you are and for what you have done for me. You are a faithful God. You are amazing, and I love you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.