The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Samuel 8:10-21, “So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people
who had asked of him a king.
11 He said, ‘This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he
will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his
horsemen and they will run before his chariots.
12 ’He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and
some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of
war and equipment for his chariots.
13 ‘He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14 ‘He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive
groves and give them to his servants.
15 ‘He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his
officers and to his servants.
16 ‘He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your
best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work.
17 ‘He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his
servants.
18 ‘Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have
chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.’
19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they
said, ‘No, but there shall be a king over us,
20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go
out before us and fight our battles.’
21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated
them in the LORD’S hearing.”

Do “godly people” always behave in a godly manner? Do they always listen to
the LORD or to the leaders He provides to guide them with wisdom?
Does He, nevertheless, always deliver them our of dangerous situations?
The passage before us says, “No!” Of course, they don’t!

Let’s be honest; do we always behave in the manner that is pleasing to the
LORD? I’ll let the finger point to me and indicate “No.” To be thoroughly honest,
I never intentionally leave the worship service at church with an attitude or
thought that defies what I’ve heard from the LORD’s messenger. Absolutely
not! Never!

At the same time, I often fail ultimately to respond in the way that would please
both the messenger and the LORD. Of course, my failure is not intentional. I
don’t listen to the pastor with an attitude that’s pre-determined to just do
whatever I want! Of course not! Nor do I believe that most parishioners have
that attitude, either.

But, intentionality is not all there is to it. Verse 19 says, “…the people refused
to listen to the voice of Samuel…” They said, “No, we want to be like all the
nations, that our king may…go out before us and fight our battles.’” Well, that’s
some attitude! Freedom comes at a considerable cost. Reliance on the LORD
as our Leader is one thing; being unwilling to follow His lead is quite another.

There’s a little rhyme that seems appropriate right here. It says,

“Ours is not to reason why;
Ours is but to do or die” (Tennyson)

Confidence in the LORD is confidence in His leadership. Follow Him, and know
that you will come to a good end. Failure to follow Him, and– well, you’re on
your own! And once of that should be enough –even for the most stubborn
among us.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom