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In the book of I Samuel, in chapter twelve we find the children of Israel have turned away from the Lord in rebellion against God’s commandments. It started when they grew tired of being different and separated from those who lived about them. The eyes of the people were drawn toward the ungodly ways of their neighbors. As a result they were filled with desires to be like everyone else. In their minds happiness would be found in having and enjoying what those around them had. They decided that the old, established way of living for God was no longer good enough or satisfying. They desired excitement and glamour and that became their pursuit.

It is not hard to see the correlation between Israel’s situation and that of the United States of America and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems that we to have decided that the old established ways need to be cast aside and something new needs to be brought in. This is being done without any consideration to what God’s word declares. As a nation we seem to have decided that security lies in wealth and peace at any price.

The prophet Samuel saw Israel’s need in that day just as preachers today should see the great need we have. Samuel declared a threefold solution to the problem chapter 12:1. First he said, we must get back to “Fearing the Lord.” The people no longer feared and respected God . They forgot about the power and purpose of God in their lives much like people do today. Friend, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, Solomon declared “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of men.” Preacher, what are you doing today to promote the fear of God? Most churches can’t remember the last time they heard a message on this needed subject.

The second thing that Samuel told the people to do was to “Serve the Lord.” The people of God had begun to serve strange gods. This forced them to neglect serving and worshipping the one true and living God. Man cannot serve two masters. He will love the one and hate the other. Across our nation we find scores of people who are halt between two opinions. While men may not be bowing to Buddhas they are bowing to things that keep them from effectively serving God. Many of these things seem innocent enough but they are provoking God to anger. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “What doth the Lord require but to fear the Lord and to walk in all his ways and to love him and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”

The third and last thing Samuel told his nation in I Samuel 12:1 was that it must, “Obey the Lord.” Israel had forgotten the way to happiness and success is through simple obedience. Joshua 1:8 makes this truth emphatically clear, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Samuel explained in I Samuel chapter twelve that sin is unprofitable. He explained to the people of his day as we should be explaining to the people of our day that if we do not obey the Lord, we will see the hand of God turned against us. We, like Israel have forgotten that God’s way is the best way! We have forgotten that God’s ways alone will lead to lasting prosperity and enduring happiness.

Evangelist Benny Beckum
Statesboro, GA. (912) 690-2061