An Example of Law and Grace

# 102 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 8:9-13, "Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them." 10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 "He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 "He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. (1 Sam 8:9-13) Up until this time the Israelites were not ruled by a king. God served as their protector and provider. This was unlike any other arrangement in the world. As long as the people served and loved God rather than idols, the people were more blessed and more powerful than any other nation in the world. God would raise up leaders and then use them to bring enemy forces to their knees. Remember what Moses did in Egypt, Joshua in Canaan, Gideon, Deborah, and Samson in the period of the judges. When the people voluntarily followed God they lived in freedom and prosperity. And here's the key.....it was all voluntary service on their part. But now the people want a king like all the other nations. And note well what the king does, “He will take.” All right then people, this is what having a king will look like. Your sons and daughters will no longer have this volunteer option. They will be drafted into the kings service as soldiers in the army, and servants in the kings palace and on his land. They will be made to work in the kings weapons factories. They will serve as cooks, bakers, perfumers, and anything else the king may demand. What a picture of law and grace. One a life of compulsion, the other a life of voluntary service. Which would you rather live under? In Christ, we live and serve in love. 1Jo 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.”