Download Word At Work July 2011
July 1, 2011Word at Work July 3, 2011
July 3, 2011SATURDAY, JULY 2
Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:1-3
1 Samuel 15:1-3 says, “Samuel also said to Saul, ‘The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”‘” One of the biggest barriers that we have as New Testament Christians is that in our tradition, we have taken the love of God expressed for the lost and broken and we have made it the entire package of the love of God, and that is not true. That spiritual tradition has been more responsible for neutering the church than perhaps any other single theological expression in history. The church is responsible for demonstrating the judicial Christ. Kings got that assignment. When we read this passage, we realize that God gave this assignment to King Saul through Samuel. Now the assignment was one of Biblical justice. What is unique about this assignment is it reveals Saul’s heart. Saul enabled evil by not judging it physically. Christians enable it by refusing to ask God to judge those practicing it today. We can pray that God will judicially remove an enemy. Jesus has the keys to death, hell and the grave meaning He can be persuaded to use them. Because of our tradition, we do not think like a King. Thinking like a King is different because we realize the essence of justice demands judgment! Now being a King in the New Testament is different in this sense. We do not go out and swing the sword or pull the trigger unless we are “in uniform.” The trigger we pull is in prayer and the sword we swing is the Word of God on our lips, declaring the judicial intervention of the God who has the keys to death, hell and the grave. The church that knows how to walk in that realm is the one that winds up the age. Are we ready?
