In His unmatchable grace and love, Jesus paid the ultimate price for our infinite debt. He was not done there, though. He rose again on the third day and promised those who believe in Him a bodily rising as well.

Let us remember just what our prize is... God Himself.

And let us always remember to keep our eyes on the prize!

God Bless,

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What a fascinating beginning! Hannah was unable to bear children, but through the power of prayer, God granted her fondest wish. In return, she gave Samuel, her son to Eli the priest to serve in the temple. We saw some examples here of how Eli's sons were wicked men, and at first I wondered why Eli would be punished for the deeds of others. But what is a child but a view of the parenting they were given? Eli may have been a great priest, but he didn't stop his sons from doing their evil deeds. That is why the curse on him was made.

I'm not sure how old Samuel was by the time God spoke to him, but whatever his age, he must have been nervous about telling the news to Eli. But he showed a good deal of God-given fortitude by holding nothing back when he reported what had been told to him.

Day 2

Consider what happened once Samuel convinced the people to turn away from their false gods and serve God only. The Israelites owned the Philistines! They couldn't lose any of the conflicts. This only happened once they turned to God and worshipped Him as He should be worshipped.

Despite all of this, the people decided they wanted an earthly king, instead of a heavenly one as God had planned. In defense of the people, they were a bit tired of seeing corrupt people placed over them and wanted someone with some perceived authority to lead them. Eli's sons were terrible, partly due to the poor parenting of Eli. Samuel learned how to be a father from Eli, so I can't say that I'm overly surprised that his sons didn't turn out any better.

Day 3

So God told Samuel that if the people truly wanted a king, then they should have one. This was not a part of His plan, but He would still play a determining role in it. You may have noticed times in your life like this as well. You may not have been doing what God would have you do, but you still sense his loving hand guiding you to a course of His choosing within your path. Perhaps He was guiding you to a lesson to be learned. Maybe He was just steering you toward the correct path. Once He claims you as His own, He will care for you in the way that is best for you despite your actions. The Israelites wanted a king and God gave them one that would be the best choice for the circumstances.

God changed Saul's heart on that day. I wonder if that is why he kept the exciting news from his father, then hid in the baggage when the nation was seeking their new king. He seems a little reluctant, if you ask me. Nevertheless, he was the right man to lead the Israelites into battle. They slaughtered their enemies, but had ten times the fighters as did their enemy and no mention is made of God fighting for them. Yes, they were victorious, but at a terrible cost. The cost of following a man rather than God. Samuel did a better job than I could at explaining this.

Day 4

Continuing where we left off before, Saul again took the battle to the enemy, this time to the Israelite's chief rivals at the time: the Philistines. He certainly was a brave man. Having three thousand troops to fight 3 thousand chariots and uncounted enemy troops took a lot of guts! I haven't seen much in the way of faith from Saul, so I won't go that far, though. On the contrary, he sacrificed an offering to the Lord to seek His favor. This was a duty that God had specifically given to the priests, not to Saul, so shortly into the reign of Saul, it is shown that his rule would not last. I think Saul was just a king to begin Israel's education of what a putz their king(s) could be if they don't follow the wishes of God.

The battle was joined, nonetheless. And to make matters a little more difficult, the Israeli army fought without metal swords or spears! So Jonathan and his armor-bearer began a fight that killed many Philistines and sent them running and killing each other in panic. When he expressed his faith, and only then, did God fight on their behalf.

I'm not sure if the people rising in support of Jonathan for eating the honey was done because it was his faith that started the Philistine rout, because they were upset about the order to eat nothing until Saul was happy, or because they didn't believe the orders Saul gave were in the best interests of the nation, but their refusal to do his will can be seen as Saul's weakened control over his kingdom.

Day 5

Once again, Saul breaks trust with God. It was made explicitly clear that ALL of the inhabitants and ALL of the livestock of the Amalekites were to be killed. Saul then spared the king and the best of the livestock. I know they didn't have Q-tips back then, but this guy seems to have some trouble listening. I can just picture him stammering to Samuel that he meant well, but Samuel would have none of it. He told Saul to do things right from the outset and that would be better than fixing their situation - to paraphrase. Samuel did fix the situation himself, though, when it came to Agag, though.

Saul hadn't been in power very long before Samuel was sent to find a replacement for him. He was sent to Jessie's home in Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons as the next king. Samuel was looking at the outer attributes of the candidates, but God looks in the heart. The youngest son, David, was to be the next king. On top of that, David's musical talents gained him Saul's favor when his mood was bad.

Day 6

Next comes one of the most famous tales of the Bible. The Philistines and the Israelites were facing off with battle imminent when Goliath, a Philistine champion, came out and challenged the Israelites, and they were all afraid of him. All save David, who was angered that this man would taunt God and His army. He convinced Saul to let him fight Goliath one-on-one and met Goliath dressed in his usual Shepherd garments. One stone was enough for David to be victorious over Goliath, and with Goliath's own sword, David beheaded him and presented the head to Saul. With their champion gone, the Philistines ran and were cut down as they fled.

Life changed pace for David from that moment. He became the best friend, practically a brother, to Jonathan and gained a high rank in the army because everything he was sent to do was done. He became popular with the troops and also with the population. This didn't sit well with Saul, who was looking out for number one. Jealousy began to gnaw at Saul and he began to look for ways to kill David.

The direct approach didn't work very well, so Saul offered his daughters in marriage at the cost of Philistine foreskins. The plan was for David to die in the attempt. Of course he didn't and his success and marriage into Saul's family only worsened the jealousy of Saul. God was the protector of David and he did not forget that by the tone of his Psalm.

Day 7

Most brothers don't love each other as much as David and Jonathan did. Jonathan saved David's life by verifying the fact that Saul wanted him dead and warning him to flee. Under normal circumstances, the son of a king would be the heir to the throne and would do whatever it took to protect that birthright. All of that was unimportant to Jonathan if it meant the loss of his dearest friend.

David took the sword of Goliath and a mouthful of food and traveled on. At Gath, he feared for his life and actually feigned insanity to keep his enemies from coming to kill him. During this time, he wrote a beautiful psalm that is included in our reading. Read it and marvel at the lessons that are so true even today!

Weekly Link Two for the Price of One! No, this isn't a site about how to get coupons! This is two sites in the section where I usually share only one. I was discussing the possibility of an online resource for religion learning with Tim Challies. We are both interested in further learning and understanding, but are also both fairly established. Families, churches and mortgages are all things we need to be mindful of, and the prospect of uprooting all of these to move to a college for proper instruction just doesn't seem to be in the cards, especially when neither of us have said that we are called upon to preach. Well, now we have the internet, and there are options out there that can be most helpful! Granted, this instruction would not enable us to marry anyone or give any church the idea that we should become their senior preacher, but that's not the point! The idea is self-learning and to become more and more educated in the knowledge of our Lord and His love letter to us. And what are the sites I've discovered thus far? ChristianCourses.com and Virtual Seminary.net. ChristianCourses.com is from the publishers of "Our Daily Bread" and have numerous courses from around the Bible and a few courses related to other matters like evangelism and public speaking. The Virtual Seminary doesn't offer any courses per se, but theological articles are made readily available, making it easier to locate the works of preachers and theologians of the past, and a few of the present. http://www.christiancourses.com/ http://www.virtualseminary.net/

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Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!