Pastor Perry's Ponderings

While having morning devotions, I came across one that really stuck in my mind this week. I thought it had great meaning for the time we live in. It was simply titled "BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR".

 

The text was taken from 1 Samuel 12:

19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”20 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. 

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"As I read the Old Testament and see the behavior of the nation of Israel, I see myself time and again. I sometimes wonder why God continued to put up with them (me) as His people wavered back and forth between faithfulness and disbelief. The people were jealous that other nations had kings, so they demanded one. God granted their request and gave them King Saul. Soon the people realized their demand had been a mistake. Samuel reminded the people of all that God had done for them and their ancestors. Samuel then, through the power of prayer, asked God to bring rain to the land that day, which was the day of the harvest, and God obliged. The rain made harvesting impossible. This showed that the people should have depended on God alone for their guidance and provision. Realizing their sin of not trusting God led the people to repentance. Samuel said if the people would follow God, then He would forgive them. But if they turned away from God, the nation would suffer."  

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It then went on to ask this question which really provoked my imagination. What have you done that you need to ask forgiveness for? WOW. We seem to really have that down pat. We are good at asking for forgiveness and we are good about crying out to God. But we kinda forget about the last part of verse 20. Do we Serve the Lord with all of our hearts after we have asked for forgiveness? I do not believe we can ever truly be blessed if we ask for forgiveness, but we never turn back to God and serve Him with all of our hearts. 

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I guess I never really thought about some of the things I have asked God for could be sin, especially if it is something God doesn't want me to have. God never wanted them to have a king. He wanted them to trust Him for all their needs. As I look at my life I see things I have asked God for that I thought would make my life better and God gave me, but now I am seeing that some of them have caused me a lot of heartache. God will forgive, but it also requires us to trust, serve and follow Him afterwards.

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I guess my question to you is now that you have asked God to forgive you, How are "YOU" serving him today?" What is it that you are doing to follow Him?

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In Love Bro Perry