One of the comforts we Christians can find in the midst of
this horrible debacle we call Election 2016 is that no matter who is president,
Jesus is still King, God is sovereign and He reigns in Heaven. The Apostle Paul
tells us in Romans, chapter 13 that all authority comes from God and other
scripture readings confirm this. Yet Jesus is not at this time exercising His
full right to the kingdom. He has made us stewards of the earth and quite
frankly, this mess our culture is in is a result of our own desire to govern
ourselves.
If we open up our Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 8 we find the
story of God’s chosen people, Israel, asking God to give them a king. Prior to
that request Israel was a theocracy. God was their “king” and He decided what
was to be the law. The law of the Old Testament was God’s law which insured the
safety of His people and gave them a system of justice that was fair and
proper. But they wanted to be like the world.
The elders came to Samuel, who was their prophet, priest,
and judge and requested a king be appointed over them. So Samuel calls out to
God in prayer and listen to God’s response,
1 Samuel 8:6-9
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
This request for a king was a rejection
of God to be their supreme and sovereign ruler. Samuel fulfills his duty as
prophet and gives the warning.
1 Samuel 8:10-18
So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
Guess what? This is exactly where we
are today, right here in America.
The American system of government is
the best in the world. But you know what? It is flawed. The only system of
government that will ever work is the theocracy and when Jesus returns it will
be implemented for eternity. Until then we are going to be faced with exactly
what we are faced with in this election.
Christians, we, like Israel of the Old
Testament, are God’s people. We were chosen by Him to live for Him and to live by
His law. Yet we continue to reject God and His way. Abortion, same-sex marriage,
the sexual revolution and every other direction this country is taking, is a
rejection of God. Man is flawed and everything we do is as well. We cannot
govern ourselves. Look at us. What a mess we have made of this.
So what do we do now? We repent and we
go to God in sackcloth and ashes. We pray. We seek and we do His will in spite
of what the world around us says and does. We stop compromising with evil. We
stop choosing the lesser of two evils. We shine the light of Christ in the dark
world we live in. We stay about our Father’s business as Jesus did. We stand
together as God’s children and we encourage each other. We have faith that
though the world and our country is falling apart right where we stand, we can
know we will be ok even when persecution slams into American Christians. We
live for eternity as the aliens we are as we sojourn the earth watching and
praying for His return.
As a nation we are getting what we
deserve. Well, really we deserve even worse, probably total destruction. But as
Christians we live under God’s grace and mercy. We trust in Him no matter how
bad this all gets.
So today get on your knees and pray.
Renounce your desire for man’s ways and make Jesus King. Follow the voice of
the Holy Spirit as He leads you to the Good Shepherd.
I leave you with God’s words of
comfort. May they help you get through the day, one day at a time.
Psalm 23:1-6
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall
not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside
still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they
comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
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