Revelation 21:3New Living Translation (NLT)
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.[a]
This is the cry of Gods heart. Throughout history, man has over and over again, turned his back on God, rejected God and sought to live this life on his own, under his own rule or at least a man-appointed rule. (And we all know how this has turned out.)
But God has continued to pursue us. He has not given up on humanity.
My reading for today was from 1 Samuel 8 and this is another clear example of ‘Gods people’ choosing man rather than God as their ruler.
1 Samuel 8The Message (MSG)
Rejecting God as the King
8 1-3 When Samuel got to be an old man, he set his sons up as judges in Israel. His firstborn son was named Joel, the name of his second, Abijah. They were assigned duty in Beersheba. But his sons didn’t take after him; they were out for what they could get for themselves, taking bribes, corrupting justice.
4-5 Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.”
6 When Samuel heard their demand—“Give us a king to rule us!”—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.
7-9 God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.”
Let us not make their same mistake. Let us, the church of God, the children of God, place God as the ruler of our lives and ask him to take authority and rule this land with justice and love.
Let us call out to God and follow his lead.
And keep watching this space. An exciting glimpse of the book of Revelations will soon follow.