Then Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.
1 Samuel 12:20-21 NKJV
What are the empty things in our lives? Surprisingly, they take up most of our time and energy. Emptiness isn’t void. It is filled with the wrong stuff.
What fills your typical day? Look at our calendars with scribbles of doctor appointments and school activities. Necessary things. Good things, but they might be empty things.
Moms with toddlers pass hours with feeding, laundering, and changing diapers. She hopes nap time comes at the same time for all her little ones.
Moms with school-age kids might work outside the home, but they wear the hat of carpool driver and tutor. And hats off to the single mom. She has it all to do.
I feel exhausted thinking about these women. I’m not in any of those categories, and my days are full.
Israel wanted a king; a physical person like the other nations. Israel had a king, God. God gave them what they wanted, King Saul. Samuel warned Israel. ” Serve the Lord with all your heart.”
All. Not a portion. Not most of our hearts, but all. Well, Samuel, that’s just impossible! We have homes to keep up. We have the children God has entrusted to us. And we have husbands who get hungry and leave dirty laundry.
How can we serve God with ALL our hearts with all this? Do you have a secret, Samuel? Please do tell!
Samuel never gave us that secret, but he warned about empty things that do not deliver or profit. The truth is we are serving God and being obedient daughters when we nurture and care for our families, but in today’s society, we can get caught up in worldliness if we aren’t careful.
We want our kids to have better than we did. We work longer hours to give them that life. We want them to be everything they desire to be: cheerleader, football player, or valedictorian. Then we wonder where did we go wrong.
I home-schooled my daughter, and she went astray. Where did I go wrong? The busy schedule of home schooling carried me away from God. The overtime cuts into our time for God.
These are the empty things. God didn’t ask us to raise up the most valuable player or a brain surgent. He commanded us to bring up children in the admonition of the Lord.
We must answer the question: Are we serving with all our hearts? Is that what our children see? Do we want to offer them futures of emptiness without profit or deliverance because God didn’t take priority? In the words of Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Lord God, open our eyes to the empty things filling our days. We have our dear gifts from you only for a short while. Help us be the right role model for them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
DIG DEEPER
Read Proverbs 1HIKING THE TRAIL
Do you have a family altar? A time where the entire family gathers with their Bibles several times a week. Is this something you need to do? Meet with your entire family and include the children so they can take part in the planning rather than being an unwilling participant.
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Originally posted on January 27, 2020 @ 3:20 am