A Rejected King

The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.
1 Samuel 8:7
 
God is King. That is a simple and universal truth. But, it is a truth that we often struggle actually living in. We often struggle accepting it and submitting to God as King. It isn’t a new struggle, it is one that has been going on since the very beginning. I believe it all started in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.

When God first created He was King. Adam and Eve started off by living in His perfect and good Kingdom. But, as temptation came to them, they stepped out from that Kingdom and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Then, through Abraham, God gave humanity another chance to live in His good Kingdom and called out a people (The Israelites) to be His people. They rejected that, stepped out from under it and asked for a human King.

Every time people have rejected God as King they have gone looking for someone else to be their king. It isn’t even that they don’t want a king, they just don’t want God to be it. So, they run somewhere else looking for what only God can provide. We run to other “kings” in hope that they will give us safety, security, healing, and redemption in the way we want it. But, they always fail to give us what we need and rarely give us what we want.

Just like the Israelites, we eventually come to our senses, and turn back to God. It is then that we realize though we rejected Him, He never rejected us. He sent Jesus here to give us yet another chance to be a part of His Kingdom. To, once again, gather a people to Himself. What will be your choice? To reject God only to be let down by someone else or accept Him and live in the goodness only He can provide?

Pastor Matt