"You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself." -1 Sam 13:21-22
"His armor bearer said to him, 'Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire." -1 Sam 14:7
"Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." - Rm 6:11
"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." -Rm 6:14
"But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." -Rm 7:6
"I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members." -Rm 7:21-22
I got behind in our reading this weekend because my priorities weren't in order, so now I have to skimp on the awesomest part of this week's reading. :d
Highlights are the appointment of Saul as king, and a description of much of his pre-David term. Also Jonathan's victory over the Philistines and the first time Saul makes an Ahab-like promise to kill somebody. Romans, as always, is great. These three chapters dealt with the nature of sin and our struggle with the flesh, describing one unpleasant effect of the division of the spirit, soul and body.
There are a couple things that stood out that I would like to point out. First of all, the reappearance of the phrase, "Here I am," this time from the armor-bearer that helped Jonathan strike terror into the hearts of the Philistines by killing twenty of them in open combat. Week before last we talked about community, and how simply getting behind somebody and supporting them in whatever the Lord is doing in their life is a good way for the body to conduct itself. The phrase, "here I am" is a perfect example of that principle. Samuel tells the Lord that he is available to follow Him and the armor-bearer tells Jonathan he is willing to support him. There is another example from this week's reading that I can't remember. If someone else does, please post a comment.
Romans spoke early and often about faith and obedience leading to life, and disobedience and sin leading to death. Paul made clear that he wasn't issuing advice, but simply announcing a syllogism. Saul's term as king illustrates Paul's point.
After he poorly chose to offer a sacrifice to the Lord without waiting for Samuel, Paul got more and more reactionary and more and more agitated. His sin of impatience and desire for control over his kingdom became more and more grotesque, and in this passage almost led to his son's death (1 Samuel 14:44). Saul's disobedience almost directly led to his son's death, and will eventually lead to his own death.
And then, Jesus. Romans counters all of that sin, death and disobedience talk with the presence and availability of grace from Jesus Christ. The message of Romans is overwhelmingly one of hope and deliverance from that syllogism through the Lord. And it was such a relief to read that after reading about the despair that accompanies disobedience apart from Jesus. It's nice to be on this side of the Old Testament. Thank you Jesus.
By the way, tonight we're going to create a new page together to transcribe all the good stuff we learn from MG to the site! That way we won't forget anything, and it'll give us a touchstone next week so we can pick up where we left off. God bless you, and happy Manday.
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