September 22, 2023
Author: Pastor David Miner
September 22, 2023
Reading: 1 Samuel 7 Optional Reading: Samuel 5, 6, 8
“3So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3 NIV
What impresses God?
You put $15 into the offering plate one Sunday, after receiving a Christmas bonus check from your place of business? Or, maybe telling your friends about Jesus, even though some of them laugh at you? Or maybe reading the Bible every day? All these things are good things. But the Bible passage above gives us an indication of what God really wants from us: to turn from sin and live holy lives before him.
See what the prophet told the people of Israel. They had to destroy their idols and “return to the Lord with all your hearts.”
God wants a holy, pure, open relationship with each of his children. God longs to bless us when we live before him like that. When we obey Him about sin, turn from it, and come close to him in prayer, that is when we get his attention.
Lord, help me to grow in grace so that I have a holy relationship with you. Amen.
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