"They Have Rejected Me"

(Today's reading - 1 Samuel 8-12)

Israel approaches the end of the period of the judges and they begin to ask for a king. God's intent was for his people to be ruled by Him as their king, but they wanted to be like those around them. It was not enough for them to have the Creator of the universe as their leader, they wanted a human to rule over them.
Samuel had been their judge for many years and as he grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges. The people were not happy with their leadership and asked Samuel to appoint a king in Israel. But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” (1 Samuel 8:6-9) Samuel took it personal that they were rejecting him, but God tells Samuel that in reality, the people were rejecting Him.
He tells Samuel to warn them about what a king would require of them. The king would take their sons and daughters, their lands, their money and that they would become his slaves. "But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19,20) Having rejected His warnings, God tells Samuel to give them a king. Saul, a man from the tribe of Benjamin (good thing the tribe was spared, see earlier post) was selected by God to be their king. I find it interesting that even though God did not want them to have a king, when they would not listen, He still worked with them in their bad choices. He didn't reject them, even when they rejected Him.
What can we learn from this reading? About me? About God? What did God have in mind when He left this story for us to read?
First, we need to understand that God's intent is that he have the rule in our lives, he wants to be our King. Just like the Israelites, we can choose otherwise, but God's plan is that Jesus be the King of our lives. Sure, He teaches us to obey those that have authority over us here, our government and Shepherds, but ultimately He is to have the rule in our lives. But when men's rules are in conflict with God's rules, God rules! Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29)
Secondly, whenever we try to rule our own lives, or place man's wisdom above God's, we are rejecting Him. Sometimes we get too smart for our own good. We read and study what man has produced and elevate it above God's word. That is rejecting Him! An example of this is homosexuality. God's word teaches that the homosexual lifestyle is sinful, man teaches that it is a genetic trait. No "homosexual gene" has been identified, but it doesn't matter, man is teaching it, so it must be right. While I have many friends that have chosen this lifestyle and I love them all dearly, it is not up to me to decide if it is right or wrong, God already did that. (Romans 1:26,27, Leviticus 18:22,29; 20:13 and many others) While it may be stylish to go with man's wisdom, it is rejecting God to do so.
Lastly, God's warnings about allowing anything or anyone to rule our lives is as true today as it was back then. Whatever or whoever has that rule in my life will demand more and more of my time and resources. Whether it is sports, social clubs, television, a husband or wife, job, boss, girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever it is; it will demand more and more of my time and my treasure. If I am not careful; he, she or it will ultimately squeeze out God as king in my life and I will become a slave.
God is the only one that has the right to claim the top spot in our lives. He made us, He knows us and He has provided everything we need in this life and the one to follow. (2 Peter 1:3) May we learn from Israel's mistakes and make the right choice about who sits on the throne of our lives.