Who Is King

July 14, 2015 | Wally Gilmour In I Samuel the Hebrews demand a king to be like other nations. They see this as a good thing, a way to protect themselves and have a leader who can make them strong and prosper like other nations. If you were to ask them if this action were a rejection of God they would have scoffed at such an accusation. Yet, God tells Samuel, they have not rejected his leadership as judge of Israel, but have rejected God. Their demand for a king to be like other nations, at the heart of it is their rejection of God's rule in their lives. They have not the love nor the trust in God that enables them to live with God as their King. They are blind to this truth. The Pharisees had the same blindness in Jesus' day when they rejected Him as King. They would never confess that they did not love or trust God. Yet, as Jesus told them, they were blind men leading the blind. They had true spiritual blindness. For if they really had hearts open to God, they would believe in Him. The same is true today. What we see happening in the disintegration of our culture and rejection of Christ's teachings is a rejection of God. It is spiritual blindness in the Body of Christ. It is the replacing of God with the desire for us to reign as our own king. Where ever there is compromise on the laws and truth of God, there can be found spiritual blindness. At its root is a rejection of God and the hidden deception of wanting to be god. It is the same sin that started the corruption of men and women. Adam and Eve fell for the temptation that they could be like God, be their own gods. As God told Samuel, the Hebrew's rejection of God would lead to all kinds of evil and abuse in their nation in the disguise of what their hearts desired. We see this in Jesus' day and we see it in our day. May we pray for our eyes to be opened that where ever we compromise on the truth of God, we are rejecting God's reign in our lives and replacing God with our own longing to be our own gods. This is the rebellion and wickedness of man often disguised in a veil of goodness. The human heart is evil and is the great deceiver. The only remedy is complete surrender daily to the reign of Jesus in our hearts. Humility before God in faithful service, transformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. When the conviction of God comes in areas of sin, may we accept the rule of Christ, repent, and receive His forgiveness. We often resist this reality when confronted by our unsanctified area of life that has refused the reign of Christ. Instead, thank God for His revelation and seek Him with all your heart. "If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from hear, and forgive their sins and heal their land." Love, Pastor Blake.