Day of Praise

Fr, 08/22/14, "Day of Praise"

"The LORD said to Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way...'" - 1 Samuel 16:1

Have ya ever gotten stuck? Kinda like Winnie the Pooh in a honey tree. It can take a lot of your friends, workin' together, pushin' and pullin' on ya, in order to get ya' unstuck so you can move on.

In today's verse, Samuel is stuck. God says that Samuel is stuck, as it is, in his mourning that things are changing for Saul. In fact, Samuel's so stuck that when God confronts him, Samuel tells God in the next verse why he has to stay stuck! But God says to Samuel, "be on your way!"

It's time to move on.

In Isaiah 11, we hear our God will change the world for the better for all creatures great and small. In verse 6, God specifically says, "and a little child will lead them."

"Lead them" where? Answer, "ON!"

As in "It's time to move on!"

Brief illustration. I'm 49 years old. I'm old enough where I've experienced things that I wish hadn't happened. It's easy to get every bit as stuck as Winnie the Pooh. Sometimes I'll start talking in a way that is clearly with regret. But my 3 wonderful kids, aged 21, 19, and 15, are amazing in that they'll listen long enough to say, "Dad, I love you!" And then they'll say something that clearly means, "Dad, it's time to move on."

Ah yes, "a little child will lead them...on!"

Friends, our past is history. God is working with it, as with all things together, for good. (Romans 8:28) So let's leave it in God's hands. But when we get stuck in the past, let's thank God for the friends and family in our lives, maybe some of them young children, who lovingly listen, but then gently and clearly remind us, "Let's move on!"

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson