THURSDAY, JULY 5
Scripture: 1 Samuel 8:4,5

1 Samuel 8:4,5 says, “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’” When Samuel was old, his sons were bringing evil on Israel and the people cried out for a transition, “The majority agreed to demand a king like all the other nations.” Samuel tried to talk them out of it, but they could not pass the evil test. They could not endure evil until God removed the perpetrators. They did not trust God to remove the evil. So they abandoned God for a king. I trust this is not a picture of where the church is but sometimes I wonder. Can we trust God to remove the evil without departing for safer ground? Israel did not. They made the departure and demanded a king – and they got Saul. Has our government become like Saul? Is it there because we have demanded it?