Spiritual Breathing

# 159 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:19,20 “And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves." 20 Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Samuel has called on God to deliver a miraculous thunderstorm, and God did just that. This thundering caused the people to fear both God and Samuel. This “thunder” is a good picture of the Law of God. One of the purposes of the Law is to strike fear in the hearts of men. The Law showed the people their sin. This fear causes godly sorrow over sin, and a desire for someone to intercede on behalf of the sinner, lest he die. And here Samuel serves as a type of Jesus for these people. Note his reply to those afflicted with godly sorrow, “Do not fear,” which is another way of saying, you will not die, your sins are forgiven.“ And now, that they have a new lease on life, Samuel reminds them to not turn aside from following the Lord and to serve Him (be a slave to Him” with all their heart. The phrase, “turn aside” in the Hebrew means to stretch or spread out, to bend away. This is a simple reminder to not go chasing after other gods. Seek to serve and love God alone with all your heart, soul, and might. Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery? Jesus told her, “I do not condemn you, go and sin no more.” In other words, go and henceforth, walk a straight path with God, don't bend away from Him and His righteousness.” This bending away is a natural tendency of our flesh and should be dealt with on a daily basis, as we are convicted of our sins by the Law of God, (reading of God's Word) have godly sorrow over them, which leads to confession, and the gospel words of absolution, “fear not, your sins are forgiven in Christ, ” and then the admonition to “go and sin no more.” This is the daily breathing process of a follower of Jesus. It is our life! Embrace it