Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 12:12, And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king.
Some of us have not yet come to the realization that God’s best and our best are two completely different “bests”. We know it in our heads, and often acknowledge it with our lips, but our hearts are yet to be convinced. How do we know? We know by the life decisions we make. God offers us, and seeks to give us, what He knows is best for us, but it often conflicts with what WE “feel” is best for us. Sadly, in choosing for ourselves we shortchange ourselves 100 percent of the time. James 1:16-17 tell us, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” Funny thing about this verse is that in its context, James is talking about trials. You see, sometimes, a trial or two can actually be the good and perfect gift that we need in our lives to help us trust God more, learn to live by faith, learn to be more like Christ, and an opportunity to gain heavenly reward. We do not always see trials and tribulations as good and perfect gifts. Nonetheless, God knows what is best and seeks to give us what is best. Israel put their eyes on the trial they were facing and took their eyes off the LORD. The result was that they began to desire what other nations had, a human king to lead them. This was what they thought was best, but God knew that they already had the best King they could ever ask for, the LORD Himself. Nonetheless, they chose to ask for a king, and God gave them their king. In respect to asking and receiving Jesus said this in Matthew 7:9-11, “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Sometimes we ask for what we think is best. God delays the answer to give us an opportunity to change our minds and seek His will and wait on Him to give us what He knows is best. When we become stiff-necked in our pursuit of what we think is best, God will give us what we are asking for, as He did with Israel. Sadly, once we have what we asked for, we often find that what we thought would be a blessing and bring satisfaction will eventually become a curse and a burden. King Saul had his victories, but as his heart turned away from God, the people paid the price. This was what they asked for in asking for their best, a human king. Our Heavenly Father has given us His best and what is best for all of mankind, His only begotten Son. He is our Lord and Savior, and yet, in our own wisdom, and in our own thinking of what we think is best, we trade His Lordship for other lords in our lives. Like Israel, we take our eyes off the LORD and put our eyes on the world. James 4:1-4 warns, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Far too often, in seeking our own best, we make ourselves enemies of God. The one glimmer of hope we have in all this is that we see that even though Israel chose a king for themselves, God did not completely abandon them. He did not reverse the situation. What was done was done. However, He gave them this warning in verses 14 and 15, “If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. 15 However, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers.” God may not reverse our poor choices, but when we repent and ask for forgiveness, He forgives and desires that we continue to walk with Him. This is evident by these words spoken in verses 20-22, “Then Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. 22 For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people.’” Even when we deceive ourselves into thinking we know what is best, and foolishly choose that path, know that God still wants to give us what is best and will not forsake us. He may let us experience the bumps and bruises of our choices as a way of teaching us to trust and obey Him, but He will always continue to seek to give us what He knows is best.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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