Everlasting Life

 Matthew 13     Psalm 67     1 Samuel 1-2

Jesus always taught using stories the people could have understood if they had been willing to listen. They had closed their ears and eyes, and there for their minds, to truth and Jesus makes it clear only those that seek the truth will find themselves a part of the Kingdom of God. These stories are worth reading slowly through and reflecting on what Jesus told his disciples, the students walking beside him in life, and how often the people refused to believe what he said.

Jesus makes it clear that his Word, his teaching, would fall on far more deaf ears then those that would listen. He also makes it clear that it is not the role of disciples to separate the good from the evil. They will grow together until the harvest, the day of judgement. At the judgement God will separate the good from the evil and decide the way all will spend the rest of eternity.

Today’s song reminds us that God is gracious to us and blesses us and has made his face, Jesus, shine on us. Jesus showed us the way of the Lord and provided a way of salvation for all the nations. We are called to praise God as one people.

Nations will be glad and have a lot to celebrate when they live a righteous life, following the ways of God, and not fear God’s judgement. We will harvest what we sow and when we are obedient to God the harvest will be plentiful.

As we begin through First Samuel, we see that God is still working in the hearts and minds of some of the people. There are those that cry out to the Lord for a blessing when it would be much easier to curse those that torture them. Hanna is one that maintains her faith even in the face of pain by one that provokes her but pointing out how blessed by God she is while Hanna suffers the desire to have children but does not. We see her faith when she goes up to the temple and promises if he gives her a son, she will dedicate him to the Lord. Thank about this for a minute, she is willing to give up the blessing she desires with all her heart for the service to the Lord.

When the Lord blesses her and fulfills the desire of her heart, she cares for the young boy then takes him to the temple to serve the Lord there. I can’t help thinking of what a great sacrifice this was to give up and trust the Lord with what could be her along child. The Lord would bless her with other sons and daughters for her faithfulness, but she had no assurance of that. Hanna trusted the Lord would be just and worthy of praise.

Samuel, her son, would become a servant of the Lord in the Temple serving a priest whose own sons had turned their back on the Lord and served only themselves. While the priests became more and more evil and be rejected by the people and God Samuel would grow in reputation with both God and the people.

Eli is told that the unfaithfulness of the priests will be paid with a great cost and that all of them would die on the same day. God would then raise up a priest that would lead the people in the ways of God and bring glory to God by walking in his ways.

Each of today’s readings show us that God’s ways are not our ways and that we all must make a choice on who we will follow and serve. Anything or anyone other than God, as reflected in Jesus, will result in rejection by God and being cast out of the Kingdom of God at judgement. God is a patient God that desires we all reject the ways of men and women and pursue the ways of God. Anything else will lead to death and forever rejection.