Our Cadence Is To Be Out Of Step

The Lord will work in the lives of the truly repentant, not those only interested in token religion.   ~~~   So today’s word is out of step with the world; it is like nails on a chalkboard that make modern man cringe, but that is a good thing, because the world is opposed to God. Our cadence is to be out of step. So what exactly is the scandalous message? Remember that 1 Samuel is written to give a historical account of how kings became primary players in the life of the people of Israel. So far we have not made it to when the people ask for a king, but we are getting close. But from this story the original audience would learn that victory and peace does not come from military might or from religious tokenism; victory/triumph comes from God by God. That God all by Himself is able to handle Himself, and the way back to God is through repentance; we are not to be asking God to rush to our sides and assist us in our own personal missions, but rather that we need to be rushing away from our personal missions back to God. That is the scandalous message—seeing, recognizing, confessing, naming, mourning over and owning your sin and repenting/turning away from your sin and following the LORD. The Lord stands ready to restore the repentant life, not religious tokenism/voodoo. The repentant heart is the condition of the Lord’s restoration. To see this in action come on back tomorrow.