Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 25:1, Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.
The Prophet Samuel had a very interesting life in service to the LORD. He was dedicated and left to the LORD by his mother Hannah. He served God faithfully, yet was later rejected by the people, as they chose instead to have an earthly king rule over them, even though the King of kings was already ruling and leading them. He, like David, was not liked by King Saul. The difference was that Saul feared Samuel because he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Samuel was God’s prophet. Nonetheless, Samuel’s last days were ones of solitude, sometimes even in fear over Saul’s disdain toward him. We do not read much about Samuel once the story shifts to David and his journey to the throne. Here we read that “Samuel died”. There is both a joy and sadness that comes to mind when I read this. A joy because there does come a time in our service when our rest will come. The final and greatest rest is when we are finally home with our God. The Bible tells us in Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” Precious because it means that we are finally going home to be with Jesus, with no more suffering, no more tears, no more trials. There is something to be said about enjoying solitude, versus suffering in loneliness. Yet, in our solitude, there is a danger of suffering from loneliness. Although there are times when we grave the quietness of the day, with no noise and no distractions, the quietness can easily turn to loneliness. The loneliness of being rejected. Although Samuel served God faithfully, it did not exempt him from being rejected by the people. So it is with us that people will reject us for any number of reasons. Sometimes the rejection will come because we are serving God and people are offended by what we have to say about God’s truth. Other times we may be rejected because we stumbled and people choose to not forgive or restore us. Sometimes we are rejected for no apparent reason, even by those we love. However, when our solitude turns to loneliness, when our rejection by those we know and love becomes too much for us to handle, we have One who is always there. Psalm 27:10 reminds us, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me.” When the loneliness is the result of our own doing, maybe a consequence of our own sin, Psalm 25:16-18 remind us that we can call upon the One who never forsakes us. It reads, “Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate (lonely) and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged; bring me out of my distress! 18 Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.” Sadly, the more I talk to people, especially other Christians, the more I find (even in my own life) that Christianity can be lonely. Far too many Christians refuse to forgive each other when we sin. Yet, God commands us to (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13; Luke 17:3-4). Jesus even set the example for us, as He forgave those that the religious people of His day rejected. Yet, Christianity today has a tendency to be more pharisaical in its approach, in people’s attempts to make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings. This is not to say that we excuse sin, but we must be careful that we not isolate those who sin, truly repent, are forgiven by the LORD, but we choose to reject because of our own sense self-righteousness in wrongfully judging another. I find it curious that the same people who rejected Samuel and sent him into a life of solitude, which by the way…God already knew and allowed, were the same people who then gathered together and lamented his death. Will we be no different? Will we reject others, refuse to forgive, bad mouth one another, gossip about one another, condemn them to isolation and loneliness because of our lack of love, then mourn them when we hear the news of their death? How often I have heard, “I heard so and so passed away. I hadn’t seen him/her in a while and I wondered what ever became of them.” My thought to this kind of statement is always, “Did you think enough to call them and find out, since you claim to wonder ‘what ever happened to them?’” Today, there are many who, outside of enjoying the solitude, or the quiet moments in life, also suffer from the loneliness of having no one around…family, friends, so-called brothers/sisters in Christ. What are we doing today to reach out to those who are suffering quietly in loneliness and despair? For those of us who may be those very people, we do have One who does care, and who will never forsake us. His Name is Jesus. In the end, all that will be said of any of us, regardless of the life we lived is, “Then ________ died.” For some, it will not even be said that others gathered together and lamented for them. However, for those of us that know Jesus, what will ALWAYS be said by God in His Word is, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints”, because we will finally be home with our Savior.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free 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 free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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