Like A Broom To A Pile of Dust

# 163 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:23 "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. 24 "Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." Samuel says, I will pray for you, but I will also keep teaching you the good and right way to live. The word “teach” here is interesting, it means to aim like an arrow. When you consider that to sin is to miss the mark, you get a great picture of what teaching from the Word of God is meant to do. Samuel seeks to teach in such a way to keep the people on target. And here is the good and right way. Fear the Lord alone. Don't give your reverence or loyalty to anyone or anything else. Serve Him, be like a slave to Him without hypocrisy, and with all your heart. Considering all the great things He has done for you will go a long way in providing the necessary incentive to keep those arrows pointing in the right direction. Take time often to reflect on what God has done for you. A good place to start is the cross. But if you do wickedly, that is, if you count what He has done for you as nothing, or we might say, despise His grace, then you will be swept away. The idea of being swept away is to be scraped off, gathered into a pile and scattered to the wind with the swift motion of a broom. Let's not be foolish enough to think that God doesn't mean what He says here. For He did just that to His people when they turned away from Him. He swept them out of their land and into captivity, dispersing them to the wind, like a broom to a pile of dust. Not a pretty picture, and not the way I want to end up, how about you? Let us consider the cross anew today and get back on target.