Puss and the Reign of God

# 101 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 8:7,8 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 "According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day-with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods-so they are doing to you also. (1 Sam 8:7,8) “Don't take it personal Sam. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to Me over and over again.” God would be having this same conversation with His Son Jesus later on. It is as Jesus said in Joh 13:20 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." The word “rejected” here is a very strong word. It means to flow out of like puss out of sores. It's used in Job 7:5 to describe the festering nature of his sores. It is to “become loathsome.” Okay, I don't know of any lukewarm Christian who regards God as puss. I mean we may keep Him at a distance, but in an emergency we are usually quick to call on Him and ask for rescue. No, typically it's not that we want to totally remove God from our lives. What is it then that becomes “loathsome to us? The answer is His reign. This is what we find loathsome. We rebel at the idea of God calling the shots in our lives. We treat His call to live holy lives in accordance with His Word like puss. Yes Jesus is our Savior, but He is also our Lord and King! Jesus said in Lu 6:46 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? We don't do them, because we find them loathsome. We treat His words like lepers, refusing to embrace them. Now listen carefully. God is not calling us to perfect obedience. No one is capable of that. He is just calling us to embrace His reign over us. When we do that, we will seek to live lives pleasing to Him, and have godly sorrow over the times we fail, believing then, and trusting in His kingly pardon and forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ.