“(17) Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. (18) So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. (19) And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. (20) And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; (21) And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. (22) For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. (23) Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: (24) Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. (25) But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” -1 Samuel 12:17-25
We’ve all sinned. We’ve all made mistakes. Yes, even as believers, even as God’s own chosen people, as people whom God has done great things for, we have sinned. How sad that is, but isn’t it a fact? Once convicted of our sins, what then should we do? They may surely be heavy sins; we may surely feel the weight of guilt upon us or perhaps even the fear that God will strike us dead for our terrible sins. Have you ever felt like that? Most with an illuminated conscience to the weight of their guilt have felt even something like that. But what shall we do? The prophet Samuel points out that we only have two choices: (1) Either we repent of our sin in sorrow, accept His merciful forgiveness, choose to seek Him, and to live in His path of righteousness again, OR (2) Give it all up, forsake the Lord for our heavy guilt, not accepting His forgiveness, lose all hopes, and plunge into a life of wicked sinfulness driving us straight into the fiery lake of Hell and eternal destruction. That’s it! Those are the only choices. The prophet Samuel pointed it out so clearly. So which will it be? Let us therefore in light of such truth seek the Lord and His mercies while they are yet to be found. Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom we are chief! (ref. 1 Titus 1:15). Shall we lose hope? No, let us never! To give up our hope is truly a hopeless thing indeed; In fact, a worthless thing. Why not repent, and seek the Lord rather, since He came to save sinners. Have you been one? If Christ reached out to save sinners who are in the full muck of sin, do you think He’d still reach out to a lost, struggling, hurting lamb, who has now soiled or tarnished their fur in the stains of sin by their foolishness? Of course! He loves His lambs! Those who’ve begun the journey out and away from sin, should never let a single sin (or multiple sins) keep them from returning to the forgiving, cleansing power of Jesus, and the hope of immortal glory and righteous perfection through Christ Jesus! Don’t ever let a sin keep you from the Savior from sin! Come to Jesus today, seek His path of righteousness again, find and accept His mercies today, and find life through Him! There are no more options except for certain death and wickedness. Either repent and accept His love, or perish. Seek Heaven, or plow into Hell. That’s it. That’s all. Praise Jesus for the hope we have in Him! Seek Heaven brothers and sisters! Follow the path Jesus has laid out.
In closing, just take a note of the steps followed in the Scripture from 1 Samuel today:
- The people sinned against all counsel and advice of God’s prophet (His word, the Bible) – though they full well knew what the counsel was.
- Samuel prayed for the people to see the weight and guilt of their sin.
- God showed them the weight and the guilt of their sin – GOD showed them (As He does today too, by His Spirit and various means).
- The people greatly feared, felt the weight/guilt of their sin, and begged for mercies from God and His servant while standing naked in their guilt and shame.
- Samuel, God’s minister, encouraged them NOT to give up in despair, but acknowledged that they had sinned, and encouraged them to seek the way of righteousness again. And to serve the Lord with ALL THEIR HEARTS!
- He reminded them that the ONLY other option was to fall out into a life of sin which has no profit, but can only lead to full emptiness and certain ruin.
- Samuel reminded them of God’s love and His nature, desire, and will NOT to forsake us, or to let us go, but to reach out to us and to redeem us from all iniquity!
- Samuel then expressed that not only did GOD care for them, but also he, Samuel, God’s minister was not giving up on them either, but was praying for them to be saved and he promised to proclaim to them the right way of God’s word in which they could still and needed to live by.
- He then wrapped up his counsel by repeating the needed choice or action to seek the Lord and to reverently obey (fear), love, and serve Him from the Heart; Reminding again that God’s love does not cast us away. Then furthermore reminding that the only other option was a life of sin leading to sure death and destruction. That’s it, that’s all.
Let us therefore follow the steps laid out in God’s word, seek His love and His mercies, repent of our sins in sorrow, serve Him from the heart (with all of it) from love, do His will and live with Him forever. Any choice different from that is only darkness. The choice is yours and mine. Heaven or Hell, life or death. Therefore, CHOOSE LIFE!
