I Samuel 12:14-15
“If both you and your king follow GOD, no problem. GOD will be sure to save you. But if you don’t obey him and rebel against what he tells you, king or no king, you will fare no better than your fathers.”
“Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.”
God knows how we work best. Samuel, old and ready to retire, gives Israel one last exhortation to seek God and follow his commands. A review of Deuteronomy shows his commands are not onerous. Why then rebel? Alas we are driven by our inborn drive to do it our way. Our way never works well in the end.
God made us for himself. We have a God shaped hole (Pascal, Pensées) and seek to fill it with all kinds of rubbish. Only God can fill that emptiness. His commands are the manual to the way we work personally and corporately. These two are a pair, God filling and command obedience. One without the other always leads to mischief among us. When we set our face upon God alone we find our hole’s perfect fit.
Lord, I long for more of you. You alone fill the craving within me. You alone make me holy by your substitutionary death on the cross. You paid for me. You own me. I feel incredibly secure and actualized. Thank you.